


living sculptures

by polyjaemin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, basically pride and prejudice but modern and gay and nahyuck, jaesung brothers, rated T for lots of swearing and sexual jokes, side markno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 37,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26120752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyjaemin/pseuds/polyjaemin
Summary: “Okay, he’s kind of a jerk,” Jeno concedes. “But you’ve still gotta work with him.”"Well that’s shitty, since I've decided here and now that I'm never speaking to him again.”“You still have to play nice, okay?"“I'll be perfectly polite, thank you. I’ll just think he’s a shithead on theinside."//donghyuck is just trying to live his life when he and celebrity a-list actor jaemin na get casted in the same period drama mini series, and it takes about one day for donghyuck to decide he Really doesn’t want anything to do with him, evera nahyuck pride & prejudice au~
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 90
Kudos: 324
Collections: nahyuck fic fest!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa she's here !!!!!
> 
> i am a Huge fan of pride and prejudice in all its forms and have always wanted to write a pride & prej au, and i am SO happy i finally had an opportunity. i hope this story is enjoyable regardless of how well you know the original, but it also has a lot of references to the original (both movie & book) that i hope fans of it will also be able to pick up on and enjoy :') 
> 
> this would literally not Exist without my beta who has held my hand through every second of it. thank u so much for your constant support, always <3 
> 
> ty to everyone in nahyuck fest and ty so much to the prompter for giving this wonderful prompt!! i really hope you enjoy <3
> 
> this is my longest fic by FAR and i have honestly worked So hard on it, i really hope you all enjoy! <3
> 
> (title is from one of the tracks on the 2005 ost, "the living sculptures of pemberley")
> 
> post-reveals edit hello!!!! i'm here on [twitter](https://twitter.com/polyjaemin) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/polyjaemin) if u wanna say hello!! <3

"They cast _who_?"

Donghyuck nearly drops his phone. Surely he misheard.

"Jaemin Na," Jeno repeats through the receiver.

"Jaemin Na."

"Yup," Jeno answers, popping the _p_. "And Mark Lee."

"There's no fucking way," Donghyuck finally blinks through his shock, leaning onto the kitchen counter in front of him. "How did they get Jaemin Na and Mark Lee for a project like this?"

"Apparently Mark specifically asked his manager to check it out and put his name in for auditions. I'm not sure why Jaemin auditioned too, but everyone knows they're close, so Mark probably asked or convinced him to come along."

"What the fuck do Mark Lee and _Jaemin Na_ want to do with a D-list period drama?" Donghyuck asks, still struggling to process the information. He wiggles his leg on the bar of the stool he's seated on. "It's not like their careers are going badly. They have no reason to sign onto a project like this. What the fuck? Don't they have better things to do?"

"Hell if I know. Just be grateful neither of them auditioned for your part, because you know Kun was tripping over himself to get their names on this."

"Ah yes, so lucky I didn't have my part given to a pretty rich boy purely on the grounds of fame rather than actually fitting the part. That's great."

"Why do you sound like you don't actually want to work with them?” Jeno asks. “This will be good for you too."

"I _do_ , I'm just... surprised, I don't know," Donghyuck sighs, leaning back in his chair. "Jaemin fucking Na."

"Jaemin fucking Na."

“Jaemin fucking Na,” he says again, and hears Jeno laugh. "Ugh, everyone's gonna be fawning over them the whole time we’re filming."

"I know they're, like, crazy famous, but Mark has a reputation for being great to work with."

"What about Jaemin?"

"Uhh," Jeno pauses a moment, "I'm not sure, really. Obviously everyone knows him but I haven't heard much about what he's like off-screen. He seems nice in interviews but otherwise he just seems to keep to himself a lot."

"Huh," Donghyuck considers, tapping his fingers on his counter. "Guess I'll have to wait and see."

"Anyway, it's not actually official yet, they want to do a reading in a few weeks, on the 19th? For a test readthrough and callback for some of the supporting roles. I'll send over the scene they're gonna run when I get to my office. It has both Mark and Jaemin's characters in it, so you'll get to work with them then and see how it goes."

Donghyuck lifts an eyebrow, even though Jeno can't see it. "Can't wait."

༻❁༺

hyuck

can you believe they got JAEMIN NA??? of all people????

it's not official yet so tell no one, full nondisclosure or i'll chop your balls off, etc etc the usual

renjun

WHAT THE FUCK

literally HOW

did you meet him yet??

and i’d like to see you try

hyuck

not yet, we're reading in a few days so i'll meet him there

renjun

that man is hot as fuck

think you can get me a date?

hyuck

can't even pull your own dates?

renjun

can't even wingman for your best friend?

does our lifetime of friendship mean nothing to you?

hyuck

nope

renjun

you're officially uninvited to me and jaemin's wedding

hyuck

you could ask out mark lee instead

renjun

donghyuck.... i’m sorry to break this to you…. but mark lee is straight as an arrow

hyuck 

MARK LEE??

A HETERO??

there's no fucking way

renjun

my gay senses are flawless, thank you very much

hyuck

i guess you're entitled to your wrong opinion

renjun

🖕 

༻❁༺

Mark Lee, it turns out, is indeed a damn _delight_. He's warm, and friendly, and makes it perfectly clear within minutes of walking into the studio that he fits his own reputation to a T.

His first words to them, in fact, are, "Oh my god, _hi_ , it's so nice to meet new friends! Or, like, coworkers? Of course. But I hope we can become friends."

He shakes Donghyuck's hand firmly, and then Jeno's, smiling brightly at them in the narrow studio hallway. 

“I’m really excited to work with you guys,” Mark says, and Donghyuck smiles, knowing Mark very likely hadn’t even heard of him before being cast. Somehow, though, he doesn’t seem disingenuous.

“You too. I honestly didn’t think when I signed onto this that’d be acting with _the_ Mark Lee,” Donghyuck admits. 

“Yeah,“ Mark says, ducking his head shyly “I know it’s not what a lot of people expected from me, but I’m excited to do something different, you know?”

“What led you here in the first place?” Jeno asks.

“It was the script that really caught my attention, when my agent sent it to me,” Mark answers. “He knew I’d been wanting a bit of a change of scenery.”

“I loved the script, too,” Jeno says brightly, and Donghyuck looks at him, curious, hearing something in his voice — an engagement that Jeno rarely has with strangers. He leans back on the wall and watches them talk, about the script, about the character Mark chose to audition for, and Mark chats animatedly before finally excusing himself to go into the reading room.

"How the fuck did he get to where he is in this industry by treating everyone like friends?" Donghyuck whispers to Jeno once Mark has gone. "And to keep that enthusiasm? I'm a little suspicious."

"Don't be so cynical, Hyuck. Not everyone has to be cutthroat."

"Definitely helps, though."

"Donghyuck, please," Jeno says, laughing. “You don't even act like that yourself."

"I don't know, maybe I should start," Donghyuck says thoughtfully, as if he's considering it. "Act like a diva until I really am? They do say to dress for the job you want."

"Stop," Jeno shakes his head with another laugh, pushing Donghyuck away, making coffee splash up onto the cover of the cup in his hand. "Go do your reading. Play nice."

Donghyuck pouts, but Jeno kicks him til he goes to join the rest of the cast at the reading table.

༻❁༺

As Donghyuck approaches, most of the cast is already seated around the table, chatting amongst themselves, filling the room with noise. He spots his name placard beside a glass of water in front of one of the only empty seats left. Beside it is a man sitting tall, his back to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck’s eyes glance over to the placard of the man once he gets closer, seeing his name first, and his eyes go wide as he turns to see his face.

"Jaemin Na," he says loudly, confidently, turning toward him as he pulls out the chair to sit and putting down his coffee. He plasters on what he knows is his most award winning smile and holds a hand out. "Donghyuck Lee."

Jaemin turns just his head at first, glancing down at the hand offered him. His face is somewhere between confused and annoyed, and stupidly fucking gorgeous. Donghyuck's seen it a million times, on the big screen, in countless outfits and styles and expressions. Having it a foot from his own face is _really_ something else, though. Jaemin blinks and Donghyuck can see his eyelashes flash dark against his cheek.

A small, polite smile finally finds its way to his face and he shakes Donghyuck's hand gingerly, his hand large and warm, enveloping Donghyuck's.

"Nice to meet you," he says, voice just as blandly polite as the smile on his face, and Donghyuck nods, sitting down fully and ruffling with his script to fill the awkwardness.

 _For as good an actor as he is,_ Donghyuck thinks, _he’s pretty shit at it off-camera._

He has no time to try conversation again, though, as the casting director calls everyone to attention, and they get to the initial read-through. It's just a test reading, to be followed up by running through one of the scenes in a make-shift set to test their chemistry with both the leading and supporting roles.

They start the first run through, and Donghyuck sinks into the character, trying to think as he thinks, bringing him to life. Mark’s character is the central role, but Donghyuck had been drawn to his own role when he first read through the script, the way he comes off as arrogant and foolish but still so _likable._ Something about him resonates with Donghyuck — though Donghyuck considers himself more discerning, not as prone to the self-assuredness that ultimately causes the character far more trouble than it’s worth.

Eventually they stop for a break before moving to the set for the afternoon, and Jaemin stands to leave without a word to anyone. 

_What the hell is his problem,_ Donghyuck blinks after him as he leaves the room. He shrugs it off, though, turning to chat with one of the supporting actors until Jeno comes to drag him away to get lunch.

"Do you know what they're feeding us?" Donghyuck asks as they round a corner. "If it's those finger sandwiches from that shitty deli across the street again, I'm backing out of this series literally today."

"Kun didn't mention," Jeno says with a shrug, "but you'll eat it and say thank you."

"Yes, mother," Donghyuck says, and then shoots an arm out to stop Jeno abruptly when he hears Mark's voice coming from a room beside them, door propped open. He puts his finger to his lips to signal Jeno to be quiet, pushing him against the wall and leaning his ear toward the open door.

"Isn't everyone so great already?" Mark's voice comes from the room, sounding like it was spoken through a mouthful of food.

"Mm," Jaemin hums. "I guess."

Jeno tries to pull Donghyuck away from the door and they tussle silently for a second before freezing when Mark speaks again.

"C'mon, Jaem, I know you don't actually hate it here."

"It's fine. I don't know how you convinced me to work on something like this."

"You'll warm up to it," Mark says. "And you gotta make some friends, too!! Why didn't you talk to Donghyuck more? He was like right there, and he’s cute. Dude, his _manager_ , though?"

Donghyuck and Jeno look at each other with shock, Donghyuck's mouth hanging open. _Renjun can suck it,_ the back of his mind says in victory.

"Jeno? He is cute," Jaemin agrees, and Donghyuck wiggles his eyebrows, elbowing Jeno excitedly. It's just a bit too hard, though, because Jeno lets out a tiny _oof_ and then slaps his own hand over his mouth. "Donghyuck is... Fine, I guess, but _please_. With _me_?”

“Come _on_ , Jaem. We’re away from home. Have some fun for once.”

“Sounds like a waste of time,” Jaemin says dismissively. “Have your fun but _please_ don’t try to set me up with anyone _here_. Especially Donghyuck _._ I’m _really_ not planning to stay.”

Donghyuck's jaw drops even further. The shock on Jeno's face flips from pleased to offended in a second, nose scrunching up.

"Jaemin, come on, dude," Mark laughs. "Everyone's so awesome already. I swear I'll never understand you."

Donghyuck strains his ear to hear more, but Jaemin's voice is softer when he answers, and they back away from the door silently.

"Okay, how the fuck is Mark Lee friends with that asshole?" Donghyuck says when they're a safe distance down the hallway and around a corner. "Actually, I'm tempted to classify Mark as an automatic asshole too, by association, but at least he tried sticking up for us," Donghyuck exclaims, and then he laughs at the absurdity of it all. "A _waste of time_."

Jeno looks at him with crossed arms as he rants, patiently waiting for Donghyuck to finish. "Maybe he didn't mean it badly? I mean, he’s here for work, you know? Maybe he just meant he wants to focus on that."

"Jeno. The way he said ‘anyone _here’?_ Like? Clearly he looks down on us.” 

“He’s….”

“A jerk?”

“Okay, he’s kind of a jerk,” Jeno concedes. “But you’ve still gotta work with him.” 

"Well that’s shitty, since I've decided here and now that I'm never speaking to him again.”

“You still have to play nice, okay?"

“I'll be perfectly polite, thank you. I’ll just think he’s a shithead on the _inside_." 

Jeno rolls his eyes, pushing Donghyuck down the hall, "Come on, we have to eat soon so we can get to the set on time."

" _Waste of time_. I'll show him how to spend his _time."_ Donghyuck mutters, finally heading toward the lunch room.

"Sure you will."

"Mark thinks you're cute, though, so I guess he has some good taste, huh?" He turns to see Jeno's reaction, but Jeno refuses to react, continuing to push him along. There's a small smile on his mouth, though, and Donghyuck doesn't stop teasing him for the rest of lunch.

༻❁༺

By the time they meet again at the set an hour later, Donghyuck has laughed with Jeno about the whole thing so much that he greets both Mark and Jaemin with all the eagerness of someone absolutely determined to stay unbothered.

Mark greets them warmly, and Donghyuck doesn't miss how he turns to pull Jeno into the conversation too, who responds with a slight blush on his face and smile on his lips.

Jaemin stands nearby as they chat, silently observing the conversation, and Donghyuck watches him from the corner of his eye, wondering with amusement how much Jaemin is hating every moment of this social interaction. It takes a _massive_ amount of self control not to laugh out loud at Jaemin's face when one of the supporting actors interrupts them to enthusiastically ask for a photo, rushing off just as the director comes by to prepare them all for the scene.

The scene they're running for the afternoon is a tense one, a confrontation between Mark’s character — the protagonist — and Donghyuck's character. It’s the discovery of Jaemin's character’s betrayal, only to be interrupted by Jaemin himself, before escalating into a full-on row.

The scene escalates, tension building, and the quick words they'd exchanged in the read through come to life. It's an easy role for Donghyuck, though the dialogue is stuffy. It's quietly passionate, in the way a good period piece has to be, and he and Mark have the most interaction, playing off each other well before Jaemin enters through the set door.

It's their first meeting, after a long proxy relationship through Mark's character, and the tension is palpable in the quiet before the storm.

Donghyuck wasn't sure what to expect, acting with Jaemin. Despite seeing him play so many roles, his closed-off personality made Donghyuck forget, just for a moment, that this was indeed an award-winning film actor in front of him. It's a wonder, really, to watch him slip into his character so quickly and so decisively, relaxing into an entirely different person. He'd seen it come out a bit in the read through, but the energy that Jaemin brings with his body language catches him completely off guard, like there's a sudden current buzzing beneath Jaemin's skin, electrifying.

"Were it not for this gentleman," Donghyuck recites, gesturing toward Jaemin. He startles when Jaemin ends up walking round the table and getting right in his face as he continues, eyes still fixed on Mark and not on the face just beside him, "and had he behaved in a more gentleman-like manner."

Jaemin is far too close for comfort, and Donghyuck reels mentally. He stands his ground, though, because he's a professional, and has been up close and personal with more strangers than he can count — though most give some courtesy warning before getting this invasive. He finishes his line, finally turning to look directly into Jaemin's eyes, just inches away from his, challenging. He can see each of his eyelashes, long and dark.

Emotion flutters through Jaemin's face — anger, offense, shock, a trace of remorse — minutely, beautifully subtle. Donghyuck stares back, unfaltering. Jaemin's character is supposed to say something here, Donghyuck thinks distantly, but the look in Jaemin's eyes says it all.

Mark jumps in with his next line, breaking the moment, and they carry on the scene. A half apology and an awkward goodbye later, and then Kun calls cut, and Donghyuck finds himself unable to meet Jaemin's eyes. Kun gives them some feedback, a few instructions on movement and posturing, but ends up turning to Jaemin with a smile on his face.

"You really are Jaemin _'I can say it with a look'_ Na, huh," he says with a small laugh. "That look was _perfect_ , exactly the feeling we're going for here."

Donghyuck decides not to even look Jaemin's way to avoid fully rolling his eyes across the room at him as the director goes on. It's not like he's jealous, really — Donghyuck is confident enough in his acting skills. But there's still a tension running through his veins, a tightness that he attributes to both the scene they just ran through, and to Jaemin getting far too close, crawling right under his skin.

He can barely hold back the eye roll when he glances at Jaemin to see the fucking satisfaction on Jaemin Na's face. Of course he acts like God's gift to the acting world, when everyone fucking treats him like it.

Donghyuck takes a deep breath and wills his focus back to the job at hand.

༻❁༺

They run through the scene approximately one thousand more times, switching out the supporting actress a few times. Donghyuck grows perfectly desensitized to Jaemin's intense gaze, the proximity of his stupid pretty face and his stupid pretty eyelashes.

They wrap up by early evening, and Kun reminds them all of the first official run-through the next week before leaving with the production team to discuss the casting.

"Why are you still here?" Donghyuck asks when he sees Jeno slide back into the set room.

“We’re meeting Renjun for dinner, remember?” Jeno answers, throwing Donghyuck’s jacket at him.

“Oh shit, right.”

“You’re the worst,” Jeno laughs, and then cuts off when Mark walks up beside him suddenly.

“Hey Jeno! Great run, Donghyuck. I’m, like, really looking forward to working with you on this. Actually,” he takes his phone out of his pocket, “can I get your numbers to keep in touch?”

“Hey,” Jeno says after they’ve exchanged numbers, and Mark has texted them both a waving hand emoji to give them his. “We’re actually going to meet up with a friend for dinner, if you wanna join? It’s our favorite local place.”

“Oh, sick, really?”

Why _the_ Mark Lee acts surprised to be invited to dinner is beyond Donghyuck, but he laughs and seconds it, “Yeah, you’re welcome to join us.”

“Hell yeah, is it cool if Jaemin comes along?”

Donghyuck is _definitely_ a good fucking actor, because he nods perfectly amiably, “Sure, why not.”

༻❁༺

It’s a little awkward, at first. Mark and Jaemin sit on one side of the table opposite Donghyuck and Jeno, and Mark asks them questions and chats amicably while Jaemin sits listening quietly.

“So are you two just staying in the area for filming, or do you live up here?”

“We both live up here, actually,” Donghyuck answers, gesturing between him and Jeno. “I grew up in Boston but moved here for college and met Jeno then."

"I’m from here, Vancouver born and raised," Jeno adds.

"Me too, actually!" Mark says, excited. "Well, not _actually_ , ‘cause, like, technically I was born in Toronto, and then moved to New York when I was little, and then at, like, 11? I moved to Vancouver? So not really born and raised, you know, but,” he scratches his head with an awkward laugh, “I guess it feels the most like home, you know? And my family’s up here, too."

Jeno nods, and asks what area he lived in, and Donghyuck looks between them as they talk, the way their eyes are fixed on each other. He hasn't seen Jeno this engaged with someone new in a long time — not since sophomore year of college, when a senior with a sweet smile and sweet voice asked him out, and wrote him a grossly romantic song, and then basically ghosted him by the next semester. It's nice to see Jeno like this again, though, with Mark listening to him and smiling at him.

Donghyuck turns to Jaemin, smiling, only for it to fall from his face in an instant when he finds Jaemin looking between Mark and Jeno with a sour look. 

_What the fuck is his problem?_

Before Donghyuck can say anything stupid, he's saved by the waiter coming to take their orders. Donghyuck orders for both himself and Renjun, who arrives just as the waiter leaves, and he takes the empty spot at the end of the table between Donghyuck and Jaemin. He stays totally calm and collected as Donghyuck introduces him to Mark and Jaemin, a sweet smile on his face that totally does not betray the fact that he’d sent a solid minute long voice message screaming when he found out that _Jaemin Fucking Na_ and _Mark Fucking Lee_ — as he seemed to be unable to say their names without expletives — were joining them for dinner. 

"Are you an actor too, or do you work with Jeno?" Mark asks Renjun, after he's settled down at the table.

"Neither! Never acted in my life," Renjun answers cheerily. He gestures a thumb toward Donghyuck, "I just followed this loser across the continent."

"He's lying. He was in one _very_ beautiful Christmas nativity play in seventh grade," Donghyuck starts, and is cut off by Renjun punching him, and Mark laughs loudly. "As the donkey, of course."

"You said you'd never talk about it!"

"He had a tail and everything — _ow_!"

"Renjun does graphic design," Jeno explains loudly, ignoring their tussle. "Mostly freelance, so it was easier to up and move when Donghyuck suggested it after college."

"I'd been thinking of moving anyway," Renjun adds, coming back to the conversation.

"That's a long way to move," Jaemin says thoughtfully, much to the surprise of everyone at the table. “Especially away from family.”

"Yeah... I'd just gone through a really bad breakup, too," Renjun says, playing with the cloth napkin in front of him. "Felt good to get away from it all."

"And he missed me, obviously," Donghyuck says, lightly, feeling awkward at the sudden gravity.

“You wish,” Renjun shoots back.

"I totally get it," Mark says. "I had the _worst_ breakup right before I moved down to LA, too. I just had to get out of Vancouver, you know?" 

"We've all been there. Lord knows why we still date at all," Donghyuck says, and when his eyes fall back to Jaemin, he finds his eyes are fixed on Donghyuck.

Jaemin’s voice is curious when he asks, "Why _do_ you still bother to date, then?"

"Well, sometimes," Donghyuck says, meeting Jaemin's look with equal intensity, "you just have to have a little fun. Even when it seems like a waste of time."

The waiter comes into the room with their food at that moment, breaking through the tension, and Donghyuck blinks away from Jaemin, irritated.

He's able to ignore Jaemin for the rest of the dinner, even though it's just the five of them. He and Mark and Renjun alone are lively enough to carry on the conversation throughout, with the occasional chiming in from Jeno, and ultimately, Jaemin is easy to ignore.

Donghyuck leaves dinner less than thrilled at the prospect of having to work with him for the next six weeks.

༻❁༺

"Stop! He's not into me like that," Jeno takes a hand from the wheel to punch Donghyuck's leg in the passenger seat. “We’ve known him for a _day.”_

"Jeno. He talked to you every chance he got, all day, and when he wasn't talking to you, he was staring at you. _And_ he told Jaemin you’re cute. He's totally fucking into you."

"But I —"

"No! He _is,_ and I approve. Not just because it's _the_ Mark Lee, but, like, that definitely helps, but he’s also nice and shit. Seems like a total dork, but nice."

Jeno stares at the road ahead, a small smile on his face. "He is really nice, huh?"

"Ah," Donghyuck sighs, resting his chin on his palm, leaning on the car's center console, "young love."

"Fuck off," Jeno laughs, pushing him away. "God, I still can't believe Jaemin said that about you, though."

"You can't? I can," Donghyuck says. "I've seen enough of my fair share of famous rich assholes who think they're better than everyone just because they've gotten an Oscar nomination or something.” He frowns, tapping his fingers against his knee, “I can't believe I have to work with him for so long. At least I'm not required to be his _friend_. Like, fine, be as miserable and single as you want, but don't fucking insult me, you know?"

"I don't know, I still think maybe he could've meant it differently."

"That's because you're too nice."

"What's wrong with being nice?"

"Nothing, clearly, according to you and Mark Lee. You guys will be the nicest couple on the planet. And I'll end up old and alone and miserable." He looks out the window, watching the city pass by in a blur. "But at least I’ll never be as miserable as Jaemin fucking Na."

༻❁༺

"'Why do you still bother to date, then?'" Donghyuck imitates, putting on a deep voice that he personally finds a _flawless_ imitation of Jaemin, thank you very much. He scoffs. "God, he's so annoying. At least he's fun to make fun of. Who would date his grumpy ass anyway?"

He stretches his leg out beside Renjun where they’re tangled together on the couch of their apartment a few days after the incredibly awkward first day. Donghyuck scrolls social media on his phone while Renjun plays Animal Crossing.

Renjun gives him a look over his Switch. "Maybe he’s just been burned. He's our age, isn't he? He must’ve dated someone before."

"I don't know, dude. I barely spent a day with him and I can tell he's not exactly the most personable bachelor."

Donghyuck goes back to his phone, and decides to open Safari and type 'jaemin na' into the search bar. His overview comes up first, filled with stupidly perfect photos of his stupidly perfect face at red carpets. Donghyuck taps straight through to his Wikipedia, immediately scrolling down to and expanding the Personal Life tab. There are two lengthy paragraphs about his coming out as bisexual as a teen, the public's reactions, his philanthropic support of an LGBT organization, and absolutely nothing about any dating.

"Huh, yeah, no partners. Or nothing public, at least," Donghyuck tells Renjun, who just hums in response.

So, Donghyuck taps the search bar again, and types in "jaemin na dating" instead. The first article is from _Weekly World News,_ and Donghyuck scoffs, even as he taps through to read it.

WHY IS JAEMIN STILL SINGLE? THE ACTOR'S SECRETS REVEALED

Donghyuck shakes his head as he skims the article, some guy claiming they hooked up at a party but never gave him his name or got any contact info. " _He was so charming and sweet, he really made me feel special,"_ the article reads, and Donghyuck laughs out loud as he swipes out of it and moves to the next one, which catches his eye:

"JAEMIN NA SLEPT WITH THE PRODUCER TO GET MY ROLE"? ACTORS SPEAK UP ABOUT THE MAN CHEATING HIS WAY TO THE TOP

Donghyuck can't believe he's about to click on an article from the fucking _Sun,_ but his curiosity outweighs his better judgement, and he taps through.

It's an awful article, honestly, as most tabloids are, but he reads through it anyway, growing more and more intrigued by the frankly pretty serious accusations, because it doesn't end with Jaemin just sleeping with people to get roles.

"Holy shit?"

"What," Renjun says, not looking up from his switch.

"This article says he's paid people off to get roles."

That gets Renjun's attention. "What?"

"The first half of the article is about how he apparently slept with some casting director, which, like, possible, but he doesn't really seem like the type," Donghyuck explains, and then starts reading aloud:

" _The story doesn't end there, unfortunately. Sleeping with people apparently isn't the only method Jaemin Na uses to get where he wants. An actor speaks up: 'I was pretty much guaranteed to get this role, when my manager called me and told me it had been given to Jaemin Na instead,' said the actor, who requested to have their name left anonymous for legal reasons. 'When I confronted the producer about it, he implied that Jaemin_ had _to be given the role, or else. I demanded to know what happened, and he said the casting director suddenly changed his mind out of nowhere, and after some pressing, admitted that there was some monetary incentive. I'm not just upset because my role had been stolen, but that's just so [expletive]_ _wrong. He needs to be exposed.'"_

He looks up to Renjun when he's done reading. "The rest says they contacted the producer and others involved on the project and it was just, like, common knowledge in the production circle. And it's apparently been known to have happened before."

"There's no way."

"That's what it says!"

"What's your source, the _Enquirer_?" Renjun asks sarcastically.

"The... Sun," Donghyuck admits, and Renjun gives him a _come on_ look. "Look, this can't be the only article about it." He goes back to the search bar and types in "jaemin na bribery" and presses search, tapping straight over to the News tab. The first page has just a few other articles, all dated about two years before, about how Jaemin had paid off directors, producers, paying them both for his roles and to keep quiet about it.

"I don't know, Hyuck," Renjun says when Donghyuck shows him the search results. "You know better than to trust tabloids."

"There's just so many people confirming it, it's like it's an open secret. And both he and his agent have never said anything about it. Why wouldn't they immediately shut down rumors like this if they weren't true?"

"If they were true he'd probably be even _more_ likely to shut them down ASAP," Renjun argues, and Donghyuck hums, thinking. "Why would he even need to pay for roles? He's a good actor.”

Donghyuck shrugs. "I don't know. He's rich. Maybe he's just used to paying people to get his way? Either way, it's wicked sketchy."

༻❁༺

With the cast officially set, the next full table read is the next month, followed by several run-throughs, costume fittings, and dance lessons for the ballroom scenes. Filming starts in the week following, planned to take a full two months, one week for each episode of the mini series.

Donghyuck spends much of their dead time on set chatting with Mark, who he finds both fun enough to talk to and easy enough to tease. Jeno shows up on set considerably more than any manager really needs to be, but Donghyuck can’t blame him, not when he nearly always finds Mark gravitating toward him between sets. 

They're shooting in a roughly chronological order, so most of Jaemin's scenes are with Mark for the first few weeks, and Donghyuck considers himself lucky enough to barely catch sight of him at all.

The first time they finally cross paths on set is two weeks in, early in the morning when Donghyuck goes to enter his costume trailer, only to find Jaemin standing inside. Donghyuck finds it strange to begin with, and is even more confused when he sees Jaemin talking quietly with some people from the wardrobe department, which is considerably stranger. 

He's already in full costume, tan pants tights on his long legs, shown off by the short-front navy tailcoat buttoned tightly around his waist. The white cravat wrapped up around his neck makes his jaw look even sharper than usual, slight sideburns and the elegant sweep of his hair framing his face.

Of _course,_ he looks perfect. Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

"Good morning," he greets, and Jaemin turns toward him fully, seemingly surprised to see him. Donghyuck looks him up and down again, more obviously this time, but says nothing. "My turn to get Victorian."

"Morning," Jaemin greets, and the people from costuming greet Donghyuck as well, while Jaemin still stands quietly. "Um, I was just leaving."

Donghyuck steps to the side to clear the way. "See you around."

Jaemin makes his way past, but brushes his shoulder against Donghyuck in the tight space, and Donghyuck can just catch a scent of his cologne through his held breath.

Jaemin leaves, and Donghyuck exhales. 

He only catches glimpses of him for the rest of the day.

༻❁༺

“What the fuck do you mean Mark invited you over?” Donghyuck jerks, nearly sitting upright, only to be slapped back down by his makeup artist. “Sorry, Doyeon. But holy fuck, Jeno, he asked you out?” 

“It’s not a date!” Jeno leans on the counter beside him, facing away from the mirror.

“Sounds like one to me. Listen, this is what we’re gonna do: You’re gonna take all public transit to get there yourself, and you’re gonna bring a bottle of wine as a gift, and then you’re gonna drink _just_ enough that you can’t go home alone and have to stay the night.”

“Hyuck.”

“I’m serious! Sorry,” he lies back and closes his eyes again at Doyeon’s impatient tapping. “I’m serious, plus it’s the night before our _first_ Saturday off from filming? He totally wants to bang, dude.”

“But you just told me to drink. I don’t wanna hook up with Mark Lee while I’m drunk.”

“Why not?” 

“Donghyuck,” Jeno sighs, and then stands when Doyeon shamelessly slaps his ass to get off of their make up counter. “Sorry. Hyuck, you know I don’t hook up like that. Did that enough in college.”

“Fine, fine, cockblock yourself all you want. But he totally invited you _over,_ dude, like, not just _out._ ”

“Jaemin will be there too!”

“What? What kinda date is that?”

“A _not_ date, that’s what I’m _saying.”_

“Bullshit,” Doyeon says simply, not looking away from the spread of brushes she’s sifting through on the counter.

“ _Thank_ you,” Donghyuck says, waving his hands at her and looking at Jeno pointedly. “See? We all think it’s a date.”

“It’s just hanging out as friends,” Jeno insists.

“ _Friends_ ,” Donghyuck scoffs. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

༻❁༺

jeno

dude

regret

Donghyuck blinks through bleary eyes at the texts, then glances up to the time. 8:02 AM. 

hyuck

damn, mark lee is that bad of a fuck?

jeno

STOP

we didn’t fuck!!!

but... i did stay the night

because i drank uhhh a bit too much

hyuck

oh so you DO listen to my flawless advice

jeno

i didn’t do it on purpose!!! I was just having a really good time and then sort of… passed out

on their couch

hyuck

jeno noooo you didn’t even let him OFFER to let you stay?

you totally could’ve made it to his bed first

have some game, dude

jeno

this was a FRIENDLY EVENT

hyuck

and you could’ve gotten some FRIENDLY DICK

jeno

no dick

just hangover

can you come get me in a few hours?

everything hurts

hyuck

ahh yes

the regret

jeno

yes :(

hyuck

you sweet summer child

send me his address

༻❁༺

Donghyuck sighs as he makes his way through the city, fighting the Saturday morning traffic until he nears the West End, when he laughs to himself as he starts to see rainbows line the road. If Mark Lee was trying to be subtle about his sexuality, renting like one block from Davie Village wasn’t a great idea.

By the time he makes his way to the apartment on the top floor of a cushy building overlooking the bay (that he absolutely does not want to know how much costs), it dawns on him that Jaemin was staying here, too. Great.

“Donghyuck!” It’s Mark who opens the door, thank God, greeting him brightly. “Come in, come in. We’re actually just making breakfast, do you want to join? You’re not in a hurry, right?”

Donghyuck steps into the apartment, looking around at the spacious apartment, high ceilings and a modern decor that nears an almost tacky opulence. _Rich people_.

“Sure, yeah, I could eat. Where's Jeno?”

"He's showering! He's suuuuper hungover but I forced some water and ibuprofen on him, so I think he'll be alright. He's a lightweight, huh? I drank just as much as him..."

They turn from the entryway into the kitchen as he talks, and Donghyuck is met with two surprising sights: Jaemin, standing at the stove, spatula in hand, and a stranger sitting at the breakfast bar stool.

“Hey!” The stranger immediately stands tall, stretching a hand out to Donghyuck kindly. “I’m Johnny! I’m Mark’s manager, up from LA.”

“Oh!” Donghyuck is surprised, taking Johnny’s warm hand, still distracted by Jaemin cooking beside them. “Donghyuck. What brings you all the way up here?”

“Mark’s told me a lot about Vancouver,” Johnny answers, sitting back down. “I’ve always wanted to visit, so, now I have an excuse. And I get to visit my favorite client.”

“You’re not supposed to have favorites, Johnny,” Mark laughs, but Donghyuck is already looking back to Jaemin at the stove.

Donghyuck’s not sure why the scene just seems so wrong. Maybe he always imagined a private chef serving Jaemin his each and every meal, like some stupidly rich Regency era gentleman from their drama. But here he was, far too put together for a Saturday morning at home, in a loose white button down shirt and dark jeans. Even his stupid hair looks perfect, who the hell gets up to do their hair on a Saturday morning? After drinking the night before, too? Donghyuck wonders if he even drinks or just, like, sniffs ancient wine and thinks about its notes of fruity aroma, or whatever it is that rich people do.

“See, I knew I couldn't beat out Taeyong as your favorite," Mark’s voice pulls him back, and Donghyuck finally blinks back away from Jaemin.

"You represent Taeyong?" Donghyuck asks Johnny, pulled back into the conversation, and pretending he’d been listening the whole time.

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"No, but I've always loved his work," Donghyuck says, excited. "I did some modeling in college, but I haven't really had an opportunity since then."

Johnny considers for a moment, and then asks, "Are you still interested in it?"

"Yeah, actually," Donghyuck answers, barely having to even think about it. He loves acting, has always loved it, but can't deny that it doesn't always pay all the bills. Modeling has always been his favorite side gig by far.

"You should send me some of your work," Johnny says, and Donghyuck decides he likes him already. "I could try to help you out if you want."

Jeno comes out from an adjacent hallway, then, wet hair dark across his forehead and wearing a shirt that Donghyuck doesn't recognize.

"Good morning, Jeno," Donghyuck says a bit louder than strictly necessary, turning toward him. "Funny running into you here."

Jeno closes his eyes, flinching from Donghyuck's volume. "Shhhh."

"Weak," Donghyuck laughs, but walks up to him and moves his hair to press the back of his hand to Jeno's forehead. He asks, in a softer voice, "You okay?"

Jeno nods and Donghyuck goes to pull at his eyes playfully, trying to look at his pupils, but Jeno brushes him off with a pout. Satisfied that Jeno's not actually dying, Donghyuck can't help but add, "Hey, is that a new shirt?"

Jeno finally opens his eyes, just enough to turn it into a glare.

Mark clears his throat loudly behind them, "Hey Jaemin, how's breakfast coming?"

Donghyuck laughs, and Jeno keeps glaring.

"Not quite ready yet," they hear Jaemin answer from the kitchen, "but there's some bacon ready, if any of you want it." 

Everyone makes their way over to the kitchen, Mark leaning onto the counter while Donghyuck and Jeno take the two empty seats beside Johnny at the island.

"This kitchen is fancy as shit for an apartment," Johnny says through a mouthful of bacon, looking around at the room, spacious and modern.

"Yeah, this place was a pretty good find," Mark answers.

"Especially when Mark found it two days before we came up for casting," Jaemin says, eyebrow quirked, putting two fingers up to emphasize the _two._

"Worked out though, didn't it? And now you have this nice kitchen to cook in," Mark points out, and Donghyuck is amused at how comfortable Mark is with Jaemin. He turns back to the others when he adds, "Jaem's kitchen back home is fuckin’ _niiiice_ though."

"It better be," Jaemin says, putting a bowl into the sink and coming to lean on the counter beside Mark, spatula in hand. "My parents had it built specifically, since they loved to cook so much."

"You definitely take after them," Mark checks his hip against Jaemin, who just gives him a small smile in response. "I don't mind a small kitchen, though. I like my condo."

"You don't own a house down in LA?" Donghyuck asks, curious. Surely he has enough money for a house?

"He likes being in the heart of the city," Jaemin answers for him, voice hinting that it's a concept he can't actually understand at all. "All the... people, and constant activity."

"Yup," Mark confirms proudly, though Donghyuck has a feeling Jaemin didn't think of it as a brag. "And when I wanna get away, I can just go up to Jaem's house in the hills."

"Of course, Jaemin is living the high life," Johnny teases, and Jaemin keeps a small smile on his face as he flips their french toast.

"If I ever decide to move out of downtown, I'd totally buy your house," Mark says, thoughtful.

"It's not for sale," Jaemin says simply, and then adds, "food's ready."

Donghyuck joins Mark in grabbing plates and silverware and carrying them to the table as Jaemin brings the food, and all of them settle around to dig in.

"This is so good, Jaem," Johnny says, four pieces of french toast later, and Jaemin smiles and gives him a small nod of thanks.

"I didn't know you cooked, Jaemin," Jeno says. "This is all really good."

"Jaem's an awesome chef," Mark says, enthusiastic.

"Is there anything the great Jaemin Na can't do?" Donghyuck comments, and Jaemin gives him a curious look.

"Nobody's perfect," is all he says in reply, after a pause.

"Come on, don't tease poor Jaemin," Johnny laughs, and Donghyuck isn't sure whether he doesn't sense the tension or is trying to keep it light because of it. "Not for cooking, at least. That's definitely not a fault."

"What are your faults, then, Jaemin?" Donghyuck asks, playful lilt to his voice, his eyes still stuck on Jaemin. "There's gotta be something I can tease you about. Any flaws come to mind?"

Jaemin thinks for a second, and then answers, matter-of-factly, "Well, I'm not very forgiving, for one. I lose respect for people easily and hold grudges for... Well, forever."

"Well," Donghyuck says with a disappointed tsk, "that's no fun."

Mark says something, then, and Jeno replies, and Donghyuck only half hears them, his and Jaemin's eyes still locked on each other for a long, heavy moment. He keeps a small smile on his face, enjoying the game, while Jaemin looks back at him with slightly squinted eyes.

Jaemin is the first to look away, and Donghyuck considers it a victory.

༻❁༺

"It was nice to meet you, Johnny," Donghyuck shakes his hand as he and Jeno get ready to leave, slipping his shoes on by the door.

"You too, Donghyuck. Hit me up, especially the next time you're in LA, okay? Especially if you're serious about doing some modeling, I could hook you up with some people down there."

Jeno stands to the side with Mark, talking quietly and far closer than strictly necessary for a Friendly Goodbye after a Friendly Event.

"Donghyuck," the deep voice pulls Donghyuck out of his thoughts, and he turns to find Jaemin standing surprisingly close beside him. He waits for Jaemin to say something more, but he stays silent.

"Thanks for breakfast, Jaemin."

Jaemin pauses, like he wants to say something else, but just nods and gives him a tight smile. "You're welcome."

They stand in silence for a long, extremely awkward moment, Johnny having already headed back into the apartment, but Jaemin apparently feeling the need to stay to show him to the door out of courtesy. Mark and Jeno finally break from their little world, much to Donghyuck's relief.

"Thanks for taking care of Jeno, Mark," Donghyuck says.

"Yeah, dude, of course. You're welcome to get wasted and crash here anytime," Mark says happily. "I mean, like, drink and stuff, for fun, you don't have to get wasted every time. But you're welcome here. Of course."

"Thanks, man," Donghyuck laughs. "Next time we'll plan it beforehand so you're prepared for Jeno's lightweight ass."

"Perfect," Mark says, smiling wide. Still at Jeno.

“Even _I’ve_ never gotten wasted on a first date,” Donghyuck teases, and Jeno immediately punches his arm while Mark chuckles. 

"Hyuck! Let’s go, thanks Mark,” Jeno says with alarm, pushing Donghyuck toward the door as Jaemin opens it for them. 

“Bye Mark," Donghyuck waves as they leave, and turns to Jaemin. "Jaemin."

"Bye, Donghyuck," Jaemin nods, and closes the door behind them.

༻❁༺

The first shoot the following Monday morning is, of course, since the universe is cruel and unusual, one of the few that Donghyuck and Jaemin actually have together, starting with the scene they'd first practiced at the initial read the day they met.

"This scene is the culmination of everything, you know? All the confusion, all the frustration," Kun addresses them before they're about to run through it for the first time. "It's like a tug of war, with Mark in the middle, yeah? Don't be afraid to feel what these characters are feeling."

They start the scene, and Donghyuck feels tight as it builds and builds, feeling his heart pulsing in his throat by the time the scene reaches its climax. Jaemin doesn't hesitate to get right into Donghyuck's space, just like before, but Donghyuck is at least prepared for it this time, when Jaemin's breath is warm on Donghyuck's face, his eyes flicking quickly between Donghyuck's, tight with the frustration bottled up behind them. 

Donghyuck meets Jaemin with equal confidence, challenging and obstinate. It's the attitude he knows his character would be expressing, too, but can't help but feel satisfaction in standing up to Jaemin like this, not backing down, meeting him on equal ground. 

They only have to film it three times, to get different angles, and when they finally break, Donghyuck has to take a second to breathe out the stiffness in his muscles, the faint feeling of adrenaline in his veins.

"Perfect, guys, seriously," Kun praises all of them, with a big smile on his face, so clearly thrilled with the cast in front of him. " _Perfect._ This is really my favorite scene and you guys knocked it out of the park. Ugh, that _tension._ Stunning performance. Thank you. _"_

Donghyuck laughs lightly to himself. Something about the term _performance_ doesn't quite feel accurate _._

༻❁༺

The rest of the cast and crew, it seems, can't seem to make up their mind about Jaemin. Not that Donghyuck shit talks him at every possible opportunity — much as he kind of wants to — but if he tends to turn his ear when he hears people talking about Jaemin, then who can blame him.

"I think he's just really into his work," he overhears one of the lighting guys say to his friend.

"Mark is really into his work too, and he's like, the friendliest guy on set," the friend counters back.

Donghyuck laughs to himself and pulls his phone out to text Jeno just: _congrats._

jeno

on what?

hyuck

just heard some guy say your boyfriend is the "friendliest guy on set"

jeno

he's not!!! my boyfriend!!!!!

hyuck

ah, but you immediately knew who i was talking about...

jeno

BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS CALL HIM THAT

hyuck

it's just a matter of time

when's your next date again?

jeno

saturday night

wait fuck

hyuck 

:)

jeno

it's not a date!!!!!!

leave me alone

༻❁༺

"I think it might have been a date," is the first thing Jeno says to Donghyuck the Monday after, meeting him as he comes out of the makeup trailer, early morning light still pale around them.

"A date, wow," Donghyuck says, through a yawn. "I never would have guessed."

"Shut up," Jeno complains, shoving a coffee into Donghyuck's hand. "I wasn't expecting or assuming anything from someone like him, you know? He never officially _called it_ a date either."

"Clearly it was, and clearly he's into you, and —” another yawn, “- and always has been," Donghyuck says, taking a large gulp of his coffee.

"We went out for dinner and then just hung out and walked around for like two hours," Jeno continues as they walk toward Donghyuck's trailer. "Just talking and shit, you know?"

"And you didn't take him home with you?"

"No," Jeno answers firmly. "But... I think he tried to hold my hand at one point? But I messed it up because I was nervous and didn't realize what he was doing."

"Jenoooo," Donghyuck whines."Why are you like this? Just hold his hand!"

"I was nervous!"

"You're _hopeless_."

༻❁༺

The second month of filming flies by in a rush of early mornings and long days, quick lunches catered by the sandwich shop Donghyuck hates and hours in the old Victorian set, squeaky wood beneath his feet and cravat tight around his neck, and Donghyuck loves it all. There's something bittersweet about filming, something fleeting, knowing you'll never have the same amount of time with the same group of people in the same place again.

It’s both his favorite and least favorite part of his profession — the way it's always changing, new sets and new faces, short but intense connections with people even when you both know it won't really last, as much as you promise to keep in touch. He tries to enjoy every moment of it, though, despite the exhaustion, despite the nagging feeling of frustration beneath his skin whenever he's around Jaemin.

Filming wraps early on a Saturday morning, and the whole cast and crew are invited to the wrap party the following evening, for which the producer rented out a private room in a club in the heart of the city for them to celebrate after a nice dinner.

Donghyuck is so happy to wear clothes that _aren't_ a waistcoat and cravat that he goes all out for the evening — a loose, patterned silk button up tucked into his favorite skin tight black jeans that he _knows_ make his ass look good, with a white belt to tie it together, long tail tucked into itself and hanging halfway down his thigh. It's the kind of casual sexy that he knows he pulls off best. Not that he's trying to impress anyone in particular, but, well, if someone were to show some interest in spending the night with him, he certainly wouldn't be averse to it. It's been a while.

The dinner is nice, some fancy Italian place that Donghyuck would usually avoid just on principle of it being obnoxiously stuffy and bougie. He's happy to be seated between Jeno and Kun, though, and particularly happy to be on the complete opposite end of the table from Jaemin Na.

They move to the club afterward, and Donghyuck is relieved to finally let loose a bit. It's easy to avoid Jaemin on the dance floor, he thinks happily, after dancing for a long while and never even catching a glimpse of him.

"Come dance, Jen!" Donghyuck yells over the noise, but Jeno shakes his head.

"You know I hate dancing in public, Hyuck!"

"Don't be booooring," Donghyuck teases with a pout, starting to feel the cloud of alcohol blurring his senses, just a bit. "What if Maaark —"

"Me?" Mark suddenly appears beside them, two drinks in his hands. He hands one to Jeno. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Mark," Jeno answers, eyes squeezing into crescents as he smiles sweetly.

"Aaaaalright, I see, I see," Donghyuck says, starting to back away. "You two enjoy yourselves, I'll find someone else to dance with."

He swirls around to walk away, and walks directly into a man's chest.

"Oh sor- oh."

Jaemin is looking down at him curiously, and Donghyuck freezes, then hears him speak.

"Donghyuck. Do you wanna dance?"

Donghyuck wouldn't have believed it was Jaemin Na saying those words if he hadn't watched his lips form them himself. _Dance._ What the fuck. Jaemin Na wants to dance with him.

"You want to dance. With me?"

Jaemin nods. Donghyuck blinks. He's just tipsy enough to say,

"Sure. Why the fuck not."

And then he's taking Jaemin's hand and leading him out to the dance floor. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Hendery and Yangyang watching from the edge of the crowd, their jaws dropping in unison at the sight.

There's a steady house beat pounding through the room, and the lights flash bright off of Jaemin's white button-up shirt, unbuttoned to nearly halfway down his chest. Donghyuck thinks for a second that it might be the same one he was wearing in the kitchen at his apartment, but as he lifts his arms to rest them on Jaemin's shoulders, hands linked gently behind his neck, he notices tiny streaks of silver running through the fabric. He looks away from it and up to Jaemin's eyes, so close in front of him, looking back down at Donghyuck.

"Well?"

Jaemin answers by putting his hands on Donghyuck's waist tentatively. Donghyuck smiles, and starts moving. He sways in time, and his eyes don't leave Jaemin's. Jaemin's expression is unreadable, somewhere between tight and curious, and Donghyuck can't help but laugh.

"Come on, Jaemin, don't tell me you've never danced."

"Of course I have," Jaemin answers.

"Then _dance_ with me," Donghyuck says, goading, and they start moving together.

It's awkward, honestly. Not the way he moves — he _can_ dance, Donghyuck realizes — but Donghyuck’s mind is distracted, a mess of _why the fuck did he want to dance with me?_ and _what is he playing at?_ and just a bit of _his stupid shoulders are so broad._

It’s a shock, ultimately, that Jaemin Na would condescend to dance with him, and Donghyuck nearly — very nearly — thinks of it as a compliment. 

He’s far too impatient to just dance, though. Donghyuck uses his hands linked behind Jaemin’s neck to tug him down, closer, and moves his lips to his ear, so he doesn't have to yell, "Are you finally having some fun, then?"

"It's been a nice night," he answers, eventually.

Donghyuck backs away, and they're silent again, swaying to the steady beat. Donghyuck quickly loses patience again, though, "You're not very good at conversation, are you?"

Jaemin quirks an eyebrow, "Do you usually try to talk while you're on the dance floor?"

It nearly makes Donghyuck laugh. "Well, I usually talk to people off the dance floor more, but since we're not great at that, I thought I'd see how it went here. We can't be _total_ strangers, after so long."

"Is that what you think we are?"

He studies Jaemin's face, trying to find something that will give away what he's feeling. Contempt? Anger? Why does he sound offended by the term? It's not like he's ever wanted to be Donghyuck's friend. Would he rather they be mortal enemies? Jaemin's face remains controlled, though, and Donghyuck finds nothing.

"Oh, you know me," Donghyuck finally answers. "I prefer to keep _everyone_ at arm's length. Who needs to make friends, anyway, right?"

He sees Jaemin's jaw clench before he answers, "We both know that's not true for you. But you think that's howI operate, huh?"

"Hey man, I'm not judging how you live your life."

"Thanks," Jaemin says sarcastically, looking away, and they're quiet again.

Donghyuck stays with his thoughts as they dance for another minute, the beat shifting into something darker and faster. Someone behind Donghyuck bumps into him, and he falls suddenly into Jaemin's chest, nose shoving into the crook of Jaemin's neck and shoulder. He smells like the same cologne he’d , because of course he does. Donghyuck rolls his eyes internally.

Jaemin's arms tighten slightly around Donghyuck's waist to steady him, strong and solid around him, and it makes Donghyuck jerk out of it in reaction — he immediately backs away once he gains his own footing, letting his arms fall from Jaemin's shoulders, forcing Jaemin's hands from his waist.

"Well," Donghyuck says awkwardly, "thanks for that. I'm ready for another drink."

He gets all the way to the bar before he realizes that Jaemin is still trailing behind him, approaching the bar beside him. Donghyuck doesn't look at him until they've finished placing their orders with the bartender, finally reluctantly turning his body toward him, resting his elbow on the bar.

"So... Filming's finished. Did you enjoy it?" Donghyuck asks, unsure why he's still trying to make conversation. Something about having Jaemin Na’s presence just beside him just puts him on edge. 

“It was an… interesting experience,” Jaemin answers vaguely.

 _That’s a nice way to say it,_ Donghyuck thinks sarcastically."I’m sure you know I wasn’t the only one surprised when you took a role this... lowkey."

Jaemin raises an eyebrow at Donghyuck's tone, the clear indication that "lowkey" wasn't quite the term he meant, but he stays quiet.

"It's not like you," Donghyuck continues, pushing his luck, "I hear you usually go to... all _sorts_ of lengths to keep landing those top roles you’re used to."

He watches Jaemin's demeanor change before his eyes — the polite smile on his face falls into a tight line, his eyes darken into something hard. Donghyuck watches, and waits for him to answer.

"There's a lot to _hear_ about me," he finally answers, jaw tight. "Whether it's worth listening to is up to you, I guess."

The bartender brings their drinks, then, a blessed distraction, and Donghyuck is taking a deep gulp of his whiskey sour when he hears Jaemin speak again.

"Why are you even bringing this up?"

Donghyuck puts his glass back down and licks his lips before turning to answer, looking Jaemin up and down slowly before he speaks, "I hear a lot of different things about you, Jaemin. Just trying to make you out."

"I’m not sure that'll end well for either of us."

"But I might never see you again, so when else am I gonna be able to? Plus, it's fun _."_

"God forbid I keep you from your _fun,"_ Jaemin says coldly.

Donghyuck taps his finger against his glass, smile playing on his lips. "You really think having fun is my greatest flaw, huh?"

"I didn't say that."

"You did say yourself that nobody's perfect, though. I've gotta have some flaws. And yours is... what, holding grudges, right? Being unforgiving?" 

Jaemin eyes narrow slowly, but he concedes with a nod.

"Well if you ask me,” Donghyuck continues, “I think it starts before that. Can't hold grudges if you don't let people hurt you in the first place, right?"

"Is it wrong to be cautious?" Jaemin asks, shifting on his feet and looking like he’s done with the conversation and night entirely.

"Maybe not,” Donghyuck says, considering. “But I think your greatest flaw seems to be just... hating everybody right from the start."

"And yours seems to be purposely misunderstanding them.” 

With that, Jaemin takes one last gulp of his drink and places it back on the bar with a _clink,_ adding a firm,“Good night, Donghyuck,” before turning and walking away. 

Donghyuck is left alone at the bar, annoyed and dissatisfied, and doesn’t see him again for the rest of the night.

༻❁༺

“Fucking _ouch_ , Donghyuck.”

"He deserved it and you know it," Donghyuck scoffs as they walk into Jeno's office, flicking the lights on.

"I don't know, Donghyuck, they could just be rumors," Jeno reasons, throwing his bag down and sitting at his desk.

"He didn't even try to deny it, dude. Seems damning enough for me." Donghyuck takes his favorite seat on the opposite side of Jeno’s desk and props his legs up on it. "Even if they're not true, he's still a jerk. Why should I give a fuck about his reputation, anyway?"

"You should care about his reputation if it'll bring bad press to your show, " Jeno says, pushing Donghyuck's feet off of his desk for not the first time.

"Oh come on, the dude is famous enough. No publicity is bad publicity, or whatever, right? How do you think he gets away with it so much anyway?"

"That is definitely not true, and still, think about it. You can trash his reputation all you want, but do _you_ want to get famous for having beef with Jaemin Na?"

Donghyuck pauses, grimacing. He hadn't considered that aspect of it before. "I guess not," he says with a sigh. "Why didn't you put it like that _before_ I had to film with him for two months?"

"I’m not your mom, Donghyuck. Or your publicist. And I didn't think you'd only start hating him _more."_

"Well I didn't either, but I didn’t think he’d end up being such a pretentious asshole, either! Not _my_ fault we went straight to mutual hate."

"He danced with you on Saturday, though," Jeno points out. "Maybe he doesn't hate you as much as you hate him?"

"Jeno, please. Of course he hates me.”

“Then why would he want to dance with you?”

“It was probably just for his own reputation or some shit,” Donghyuck argues. “The secretive and perpetually single Jaemin Na, seen dancing with D-List Actor But Known Life Of The Party Donghyuck Lee? If anything, _I'm_ probably doing wonders for _his_ reputation, not the other way round."

Jeno can’t help but laugh as he powers up his laptop, glancing at his phone for a second only to give it a double take and pick it up, unlocking it. Donghyuck can guess by the smile on his face what popped up.

"So what's Mark up to, then?" 

Donghyuck watches Jeno as he reads, and sees as his face falls with every passing moment. "Jeno?"

Jeno stays quiet, staring at his phone like it just shattered in his hand.

"Jeno, what's wrong?"

"Mark just broke up with me," Jeno says, finally, in a soft voice.

" _What_?"

"Do I have to say it again?"

"How the fuck did he break up with you over _text_?"

"Here," Jeno hands Donghyuck his phone over the desk. "Read it yourself, it's fine."

Donghyuck takes the phone from him quickly and skims the long text in the chat with _Mark ^_^._ " _I really had fun hanging with you… now I’m moving back to LA_ ," he reads bits of it out loud, skipping a few words, disbelief in his voice growing with every word, " _you're a great guy but it's best if we put an end to it_?? What the fuck is this?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory, Hyuck. He's moving back to LA and it was never serious enough to actually try anything long distance."

"This reads like a fucking press release. Do you really think Mark would do something like this?"

"He's a grown man, Dongyuck, he's fully capable of making his own decisions about who he dates. Or doesn't date," Jeno says, snatching his phone back from Donghyuck and looking down at the text again. Donghyuck can tell he's trying very hard to hide his disappointment.

"But you guys never even had a chance to officially be together."

"Which is why it's fine," Jeno says decidedly, but Donghyuck won't accept it.

"It's not fucking _fine,_ Jeno," Donghyuck insists, his voice rising even more. "He was serious about you. I _know_ he was."

"Well, you were wrong," Jeno says, locking his phone and setting it aside on his desk.

"I'm not wrong!" Donghyuck insists, then groans, "Ugh, this has gotta be Jaemin's fault. He never liked you and Mark together, right from the start."

"Donghyuck," Jeno sighs, defeated. "Let it go."

Donghyuck tries to stop, knowing Jeno probably needs comfort right now instead of righteous anger, but he can't shake the knowledge that this isn't really what Mark wants, and certainly not what Jeno deserves.

"I'll be fine," Jeno says, and they both know it's a flimsy excuse for a lie.

༻❁༺

Fall comes to Vancouver, inevitably, the drizzle turning colder and the trees slowly baring themselves day by day. Jeno gets an invitation from his cousin Doyoung to spend a few months down in L.A. with him, with whatever time he can spare in December and January.

"You should definitely go," Donghyuck encourages him. "You should go, and you should make it wicked obvious that you're in L.A. Like, post about it a ton, and see if Mark texts you. He'll definitely try to see you if he knows you're in the area." 

"That is _not_ why I wanna go," Jeno insists, but Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

"No, but it's an added benefit. Plus, it's cold as balls up here in January, go enjoy the sun for the both of us. _And_ you can do almost all your work remotely, especially around the holidays. So there's no reason you couldn't be away for a while." _And I’m tired of seeing you sitting around here so sad,_ Donghyuck doesn’t say out loud. 

Jeno chews on it for a minute. "I don't know, I don't want it to seem like I'm chasing him to L.A."

"Dude, stop overthinking it," Donghyuck says. "As if you wouldn’t want to show up like some awful romance movie. Run toward him in slow motion? Big dramatic kiss?”

“Fuck off,” Jeno laughs, and, after another moment, sighs. “Man, I never even got to kiss him at all.”

“You _what?”_

“We… never even kissed?” Jeno repeats.

Donghyuck pauses and looks at him, mouth slightly open. “You guys went on like five dates, though. You never even _kissed_?”

“I _told_ you that we never got serious.”

“Jeno,” Donghyuck whines, like he always does when it comes to Jeno and Mark. “We’re not _actually_ living in the 1800s, you know, you don’t have to be serious to _kiss_ someone. _God_ , I can’t believe I put up with you two. Please go to L.A. and kiss him, at _least?_ If not more? Please?”

“That’s not why I would go,” Jeno repeats, uselessly. “I don’t know if he’ll even want to see me.”

“He’ll want to see you, Jeno. I promise. _Go_."

༻❁༺

Donghyuck is taking a jog through his neighborhood on a chilly morning when Renjun calls him suddenly, and he debates for a second whether to ignore it. When Renjun screams the second he swipes to answer, he immediately regrets his decision.

"DONGHYUCK."

"Hooooly fucking shit, Renjun, why? Humans should not be allowed to be this loud before 9 AM. Some people are sleeping."

"Okay, but one, I know you're on your morning jog, so good morning, you liar — "

"I'm sleeping on the _inside_ ," Donghyuck pouts.

"- and _two,_ I am so entitled to screaming and you’ll think so too, when you hear why."

"Alright, alright, hit me."

Renjun takes a deep breath. "Ralph fucking Lauren is launching a new subsidiary brand based out of Seattle and they chose _my_ company’s designs which _I_ designed for their entire brand rehaul _and_ they asked me to design and host the whole brand launch event in Seattle in December," he spills out in one breath at lightning speed, bursting with excitement.

"Holy SHIT?"

"HOLY SHIT IS RIGHT."

"That's amazing, oh my God?"

Donghyuck smiles as Renjun tells him all the details of his design, listing off all his thoughts for the event in Seattle. It'll be a pretty high-brow event, apparently, attracting all sorts of A-listers from various fields of the fashion and entertainment industries.

"Think you could get me an invitation?" Donghyuck asks, now jogging again lightly.

"Pfft, it's _my_ event, of course I can.”

"Well I promise I'll be there for it even if you couldn't get me an invite. I’d love to crash your party.”

“ _Please_ don’t.” 

“I could always be your plus one?"

"As if I'd invite _you_."

༻❁༺

December comes swiftly, bringing more cold to the Pacific Northwest, and Jeno lines up some auditions for Donghyuck before he takes off for L.A., while Renjun gets increasingly busier, going to and from Seattle more often than he stays in Vancouver.

"So, who's gonna be at this shindig?" Donghyuck asks over hotpot one night, trying to force Renjun to relax for one evening by taking him out for his favorite meal.

"It's a brand launch, Hyuck, not a _shindig,"_ Renjun says through a mouthful of noodles. _"_ And lots of people! The whole executive team at Ralph Lauren, and a bunch of their models, I know Chanyeol Park and Sehun Oh will be there, people like that."

" _Damn,_ this is a fancy shindig, huh?"

"Yes, it's a very fancy shindig," Renjun rolls his eyes. "So you better not embarrass me."

"Me?" Donghyuck puts his hand on his chest, offended. " _Excuse_ you, I'm not embarrassing. I am a fucking _delight_."

༻❁༺

It is indeed a _very_ fucking fancy shindig, Donghyuck thinks as he enters the venue, fresh off the plane from spending Christmas with his family in Boston. He’s glad he splurged on the tailored designer suit, looking around at the mingling crowd. He'd usually never drop so much of his own money on something for one evening, but, well, when else is he gonna have a chance to mingle with such high society? Aside from the few terrible months with He Who Must Not Be Named.

He finds Renjun quickly, happening to run right into him as he comes round a pillar, clipboard in hand and panic around his eyes.

Donghyuck pulls him aside and forces him to do some slow breathing until the crazed look in his eyes settles into just Holy Shit I'm Stressed level, rather than My Head Is About To Burst Like Kingsman level.

"Better?"

"Better. Thanks Hyuck. You look good, by the way," Renjun comments, looking him up and down.

"Damn right I do," Donghyuck smirks. "I better, with how much I paid for this damn suit."

"Definitely worth it. We wouldn't wanna cause any heart attacks with _retail_ wear."

“God forbid, considering this is a retail brand.”

༻❁༺

Donghyuck is glad, at times like these, that he's excellent at mingling, and sure to be entertaining wherever he goes, because he knows next to no one in the whole building, save a few old coworkers.

He finds himself in pleasant conversation with a ridiculously handsome man with artfully messy hair and adorable dimples, who introduces himself as Jaehyun.

"Oh, Donghyuck Lee?” He says, when Donghyuck introduces himself. “I've heard so much about you."

"Really? From who?" Donghyuck asks, surprised. He knows he's not a _total_ nobody, but being heard of is a much different flavor than someone familiar with his work.

"One of my clients, actually, Jaemin Na. You worked with him this summer, right? On the period piece?"

"Oh," Donghyuck takes a moment to gather himself, caught totally off guard at the mention of Jaemin, "Yeah, I did!"

"You seem surprised," Jaehyun laughs.

"Just surprised he's talked about me, I guess," Donghyuck allows. Of course, of all the people in the room, he'd find Jaemin's fucking agent. "All good things, I hope?"

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Jaehyun smiles, dimples poking his cheeks adorably. "Have you seen him yet tonight?"

The smile nearly falls from Donghyuck's face entirely, and he falters again, "Jaemin's here tonight?"

"Yeah! He really wanted to come for some reason. I figured there were some people here he wanted to see."

 _Jaemin never wants to 'see people'_ , Donghyuck thinks wryly. "Ah, I haven't seen him yet. Maybe I'll run into him."

At that same moment, as if by some sadistic plot of the universe, Jaemin appears by Jaehyun's side, tall glass of champagne in hand. 

"Donghyuck," Jaemin says, small smile on his face as if he's actually _happy_ to see Donghyuck. As if. "It's good to see you."

"Hey, Jaemin," Donghyuck says, and hopes that Jaehyun can't tell that the air is a hundred times more tense than it was ten seconds ago.

"Hey, we were just talking about you," Jaehyun says, and Jaemin raises an eyebrow as he looks between them.

"Oh? About what?"

"Working with you this summer," Donghyuck answers.

"How was he to work with, Donghyuck?" Jaehyun asks, playful smile on his face, like he _knows_ that Jaemin can be difficult.

Donghyuck plays along, "Are you sure you wanna know?" When Jaehyun nods — and Jaemin grimaces — Donghyuck continues, "Well, I'll be honest with you. The work itself was great, but everything else... I'll just say he was a bit... stuffy. Barely said three words to me for like a month."

"I'd just met you," Jaemin says, a bit defensively, and Donghyuck just smiles.

"Yeah, and no one working together ever actually _talks_ ," he says, heavy with sarcasm.

Someone interrupts them, then, a tall, middle-aged woman who insists that Jaehyun come with her to meet her husband, and he waves goodbye to Donghyuck and Jaemin as he gets dragged away, leaving the two of them standing alone and looking at each other intently.

Donghyuck moves to walk away when Jaemin speaks.

"I don't like to pretend," he says, haltingly, "especially with people I don't know well. Acting is my job. Not my life."

Donghyuck looks curiously at the man in front of him, standing tall with his shoulders held high and the artful swoop of his hair, his face tight but attentive.

"Isn't everything just an act, in the end?"

They're interrupted by a man speaking into a microphone on one end of the ballroom, calling for everyone's attention to start the formal part of the event, and Donghyuck holds Jaemin's gaze for another long moment before turning and walking away.

༻❁༺

The rest of the event goes smoothly. Donghyuck manages to catch Renjun again once everyone is relaxing and mingling again, and briefly relays to him the conversation from earlier.

" _Shit_ , I knew there was something I forgot to tell you," Renjun says, tapping his own forehead.

"You knew he'd be here??"

"Yeah," Renjun says, guilty. "I'm sorry! I was gonna warn you and forgot. You know how busy I've been for this event."

Donghyuck groans, but can't hold it against him, "I know, I know, it's fine. Ugh, I could've lived never seeing his stupid face again, though, seriously. Every time I talk to him I hate him more, I swear to God."

Renjun can't stay for long, inevitably getting dragged back into Important Conversations or whatever, and Donghyuck wanders and chats. Eventually he runs into Jaehyun again, who he _had_ actuallybeen enjoying chatting with before Jaemin showed up.

"Hey, Donghyuck," Jaehyun greets, stopping a passing server and they each grab a flute of champagne. "Sorry I had to bolt so quickly earlier and leave you two alone."

"No worries," Donghyuck says cheerily, and then asks, just to be sure he won't be caught off guard again, "Is Jaemin still around?"

"Nah, I saw him walking out a bit earlier, actually. I came with him, though, so hopefully he didn't leave without me," he jokes.

"Oh, you two came together?"

"Not _together_ together," Jaehyun clarifies, and Donghyuck laughs.

"God, yeah, okay, I was gonna say. Jaemin never has dates."

"You never know," Jaehyun laughs. "Someday he'll finally catch a lucky someone. I know he can be a little closed off at first, but he's a good friend, really. I think he'd be a good partner."

Donghyuck can hardly hide the surprise on his face at that, "Are we talking about the same Jaemin?"

"Of course," Jaehyun laughs again. "I'm serious! He's a good friend. Even if his friend circle is, like, just me and Mark."

"Mark," Donghyuck repeats, now distracted, but trying to keep the tone light despite it immediately putting a bad taste in his mouth. 

"Yeah, he's really different when he’s relaxed or in a really good mood. He's always good for advice and stuff, too. Life shit, dating shit, whatever, you know?”

“Really?” Donghyuck asks, still annoyed.

“Yeah! Like, for Mark especially, I know he was just convincing him a few months ago to break things off with someone that was apparently, like, not good for him?" Jaehyun says lightly, unaware that Donghyuck's annoyance has immediately turned into full on anger by this point.

“Wow, what would you guys do without him,” Donghyuck says, trying to keep his voice normal but basically scowling, tightly gripping the flute of his champagne glass. ”Actually, I think I gotta go now, Jaehyun, but it was nice chatting with you, yeah? I'll see you around?"

Donghyuck barely waits for an answer as he turns and walks away, heading straight for the exit, desperately needing some air. There are people crowding the lobby, too, so he walks all the way out of the building and down the street a bit, too distracted by the anger boiling in him to care that it's drizzling enough to mess up his hair and probably ruin his stupidly expensive suit. He just needs to get _away._

 _Convincing him to break things off._ Who gave Jaemin Na the fucking right to meddle in Mark's life like that? To meddle in _Jeno's_ life? As if it was his choice instead of theirs?

Donghyuck takes a deep breath and leans against the cold stone building, and almost doesn't hear the footsteps approaching him.

"Donghyuck."

Donghyuck startles at the voice, and pushes off from the wall to turn toward him. Jaemin stands a few feet away from him, on the sidewalk, raindrops starting to leave dark circles on the shoulders of his suit.

“What are you doing out here?"

"I was... looking for you," Jaemin says, like it's strange for him to admit. "Actually, I, uh," he stutters, sticking his hands in his pockets and then immediately taking them back out.

Donghyuck blinks at him, confused. He'd never seen Jaemin this affected, his mannerisms so restless.

"I came to this whole event to see you, actually, I — I wanted to see you," Jaemin finally says, words spilling out quickly, and Donghyuck nearly has to take a step back in his shock. "I looked into whether you'd be here, after I saw that Renjun was involved."

Donghyuck wants to say something, but can't seem to shape any logical thoughts with his brain or his mouth. Jaemin came all this way just to see him?

"I can't believe I'm asking this, or that I came all the way to Seattle just to see you and talk to you," Jaemin takes a deep breath, looking down to the ground with a tight expression. "I don't usually — do this, obviously, and I'm going against everything I'm used to and definitely against my better judgement, because I don’t think _anyone_ would expect it from _me,_ but you —"

"What?" Donghyuck says, shocked and offended.

"You — I can't stop thinking about you, Donghyuck. I wanted to ask you if you... If you would go out with me? I — I have a movie premier in L.A. next week that I would love for you to be my date to."

Donghyuck stares at Jaemin in shock, brows furrowed and mouth half open. The drizzle around them turns into a steady gentle rain, and water drips down from his hair onto his chin and nose.

"Donghyuck?"

"I... Sorry, I don't even know what to say," Donghyuck blinks, shaking his head. "I'm... sorry? That this seems like it’s been so hard for you, I guess? But no, thanks."

Jaemin stares back at him, mouth opening and closing for a moment. Eventually, he manages to ask, "Is that it?"

"What?”

“Is that all you’re gonna say?”

“What else do you want me to say, Jaemin?"

"You won't even explain why you're rejecting me like this?"

"Is it not fucking clear enough?" Donghyuck asks, voice rising. "Have I not made it obvious literally every time we've spoken that I don't like you? Why would I want to be your accessory to some premier?"

"That's not what I want, Donghyuck,” Jaemin says, with more feeling than Donghyuck has ever seen him use outside of acting, “I'm trying to tell you that I — I really _like_ you, and I _want_ to go out with you.”

It almost makes Donghyuck pause, for a moment, hearing the emotion in Jaemin's voice, but his anger wins out, as he remembers all the resentment he has built up against him.

"And _I'm_ trying to tell you that I've _never_ liked you, Jaemin, and you know exactly why," Donghyuck bites out. "Do you really think I'd go out with _you_? The guy who said I was a waste of time? The asshole who forced our best friends apart for no fucking reason?"

Jaemin’s expression changes, his hurt shifting into defensiveness, and he speaks decisively, simply, “I had my reasons.”

“What?” Donghyuck asks loudly, throwing his hands up, his determination to stay calm dissipating more and more with every passing moment. “What were they? Are Jeno and I not famous enough for your kind?”

“Of course not –“

“Then _what_?”

Jaemin takes a heavy breath, setting his jaw, trying to keep calm. “I could tell that Jeno wasn’t as serious about Mark as Mark was about him. It was clear as day. _And_ it would have to be long distance, and Mark agreed that it would be too much.”

“Right, I’m sure he came to that conclusion all on his own,” Donghyuck rolls his eyes. 

“It was for his own good,” Jaemin says, frustrated. ”I watched Jeno, and he showed _no_ sign that he was genuinely into Mark. I was trying to _protect_ him. Even more than I have myself, clearly, seeing as I’m _here_.”

“ _Jeno_ ,” Donghyuck enunciates, “is just _shy_ , you asshole. We’ve been best friends for five years and he’s always like that. He barely admits his feelings to _me_. What makes you think _you_ could assume what he was feeling?”

It makes Jaemin pause for a moment, staring at Donghyuck as he processes it. Finally he speaks, quieter and resolute, “I didn’t want my best friend’s heart to get broken.”

Donghyuck shakes his head slowly, looking at Jaemin with disgust, “So you took it upon yourself to make his decision for him, huh? What a great fucking friend you are. News flash, Jaemin, you’re too fucking late. Not only did you make _my_ best friend miserable, but you probably made Mark miserable too. Congratulations.” He shakes his head again, taking a single step toward Jaemin, looking him up and down. “Guess I shouldn’t have expected anything better from someone who cheats his way to the top. You don’t _actually_ care about anyone but yourself, do you?”

He watches as anger clouds Jaemin’s face, and he steps toward Donghyuck too, speaking with a quiet fury, “You’re pretty quick to believe some nasty rumors about me.”

“Why shouldn’t I believe them?” Donghyuck asks, Jaemin now close enough that he has to look up slightly to meet his eyes, meeting fire with fire. “Why should I believe that you’re a good person deep down?”

“How could I compete with such a _flawless_ judge of character such as yourself,” Jaemin says sarcastically. “You’ll believe anything if it confirms what you think of me already.”

“You’ve never given me a reason not to.”

“Clearly, you’ve already made up your mind,” he argues. “So what’s the point? Would you have liked me better if I’d pretended to be something I’m not? Would you have gone out with me if I’d acted like you were the center of the universe, like there was no difference at all in our lives, to pretend that it wasn’t a big deal for me to ask someone like you out? Was it really such a blow to your pride that there was someone who didn’t fall at your feet?”

“ _My_ pride?” Donghyuck bellows in shock. “That’s fucking rich, coming from you. As if you asked me out tonight expecting anything less than a yes. Coming up here from L.A., acting like you’re better than all of us like some celebrity savior, so _graciously_ asking out a little TV actor like me like some act of fucking charity. Did you expect me to fall to my knees and beg to suck your perfect A-list cock here on the street?”

Donghyuck scoffs, leaning even closer now, their faces inches from each other’s, and he can see water dripping down Jaemin’s face, clumping in his eyelashes.

“Literally _nothing_ ,” Donghyuck continues with a scowl. “Nothing you could have said would make me want to go out with you. You’re arrogant, and you’re selfish, and I knew from the day I met you that I’d hate you. Fuck off, Jaemin Na. Is that a clear enough explanation?”

Jaemin’s eyes twitch, anger and hurt and offense flashing across his face all at once as he looks back at Donghyuck, who keeps his eyes fixed solidly on Jaemin, standing his ground. Jaemin falters, then, for just a second, eyes flicking down across Donghyuck’s face, his lips, eyelashes fluttering with some sort of feeling, some sort of pain. He swallows, and takes a deep breath that Donghyuck can feel brush lightly on his face.

“Perfectly clear,” Jaemin says, voice suddenly and completely void of any feeling. “Good night, Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck watches him walk away, footsteps splashing in the sitting rain, and finally lets himself take several deep, heaving breaths.


	2. Chapter 2

Donghyuck can’t even bring himself to go back inside, feeling like he’d been punched in the chest with the kind of intense sudden exhaustion you can only get after an intense sudden high. He sends Renjun a quick text that he’s not feeling well and is taking off early, and decides to walk the near mile back to his hotel. It’s dark, and he’s unpleasantly damp, but he can’t bring himself to call a taxi with all the excess energy pumping through him. So he sets off toward his hotel, trying to work it off, and trying to make sense of the frank fucking disaster that was that entire confrontation.

He’s angry, still, of course, at Jaemin’s fucking nerve, at his arrogance, at every assumption he’s made. That he thinks he can play with his friends lives like it’s nothing, and still think he’s doing the right thing. That he can treat people like shit and then expect him to want to fucking _date_ him. 

But it’s hard to get it through his brain, that Jaemin’s actually been developing feelings for him this whole time. So much so that he’d put himself out of his comfort like this to ask Donghyuck out, to confess his feelings that Donghyuck has to accept are real. In whatever twisted fucking way Jaemin feels things for people. 

Some part of Donghyuck feels bad, the twist of pain on Jaemin’s face flashing in his mind, the hurt in his eyes. He knows the pain of rejection, and he wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and something twinges in him knowing that he caused that in someone.

But ultimately, he knows his dislike of Jaemin is perfectly justified. And he can’t bring himself to regret a thing.

༻❁༺

Donghyuck can barely sleep that night, ruminating on everything, cycling between anger and surprise and frustration over and over until the exhaustion finally takes over and pulls him into a fitful sleep.

He wakes up a handful of hours later, groggy and feeling hungover, even though he’d barely sipped on the champagne the night before. He checks his phone, replies to a few texts from Renjun checking in on him, ignores a text from Jeno asking how it went because he’s not _quite_ ready to tell him about everything yet. 

He taps into his email, checking for anything important, and is about to tap on an email from Johnny when he feels his phone vibrate with a new email, and his eyes pop open, suddenly completely alert when it loads. He sees an email from Jaemin in his inbox, subject stating simply: _A Letter._

He nearly deletes it without even reading, anger flashing hot within him again, but instead just locks his phone and throws it down on the bed. 

_No fucking way I’m reading that,_ Donghyuck thinks. _He’s said enough._

He stretches, rubs at his eyes, tries to put it out of his mind, and has his phone open again within 30 seconds, tapping on the email and blinking in shock at the length as he scrolls all the way to the bottom and then back up to the start.

_Donghyuck_ , it begins.

_First of all, don’t worry — I’m not here to try to convince you to go out with me. I won’t bring back up any of my feelings that you found so disgusting. I’m happy to forget that that ever happened, which I’m sure you will be too. I mostly want to explain myself on some of the things that you brought up last night. I know you probably don’t want to hear another word from me, but I just... can't leave it as it is, I have to try._

_You accused me of separating Mark and Jeno — I don’t deny it. I don’t know Jeno that well, but I know Mark, and I know how deeply he falls for people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him fall for someone so quickly. So I watched them at every chance I could, that first dinner we had together, and then the night Jeno came over for dinner and stayed over especially, and in the following weeks. Jeno was always nice and friendly, but never made any indication that he was interested in anything seriously, even when Mark was completely transparent about his feelings. You were there for a lot of that, too, and obviously you know Jeno better than I do, so maybe you saw more there in how he acted with Mark that I couldn’t pick up on, but to me, it wasn’t anywhere near the same level of investment. Even when you’d tease them about dating, Jeno seemed awkward about it or tried to stop it._

_Judging from what you said last night, I’m guessing we interpreted this differently, but I tried my best to assess it objectively, and was pretty confident in what I saw. Mark was already wary of getting in too deep with someone who lived far away, even with money to travel, long distance relationships are hard. All I did to influence him was tell him the truth about what I saw from Jeno. I know I had a heavy hand in it, but it was his decision, too. And I don’t regret encouraging him to cut it off._

Donghyuck stops reading here, locking his phone again and throwing it down, furious all over again at the entire situation. He didn’t know what he expected, really, when he started reading, if not a renewal of Jaemin’s offer or his feelings, but he did _not_ expect a whole explanation from him, shamelessly spelling out all his stupid assumptions as if he was totally justified in all his meddling. Pretentious fucking asshole.

He sits up fully, pushing the blanket aside and stretching his hands up over his head, working the sleep from his muscles, trying to relax the tight set of his jaw and neck. He glances over at his phone again, for just a second.

He picks it back up and once again has the email open in seconds, scanning to find where he left off, rereading the last line:

_I know I had a heavy hand in it, but it was his decision, too. And I don’t regret encouraging him to cut it off._

_There’s only one thing I do regret, and it’s hiding from him that Jeno’s been in L.A. all month, which I knew, and purposely lied about. I knew he couldn’t see Jeno without his feelings coming back and making things worse. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe it was wrong of me, but I thought it was for his own good. Maybe none of these reasons are good enough for you, and I know you probably see me as a heartless asshole who tried to ruin our best friends’ happiness, but I’ve only ever tried to protect him._

_As for the rumors… I guess I can only counter them by explaining some of my background and some private affairs that happened years ago. You probably know that my parents were both actors as well, and obviously this gave me a pretty good advantage when I started going into acting seriously. My first agent I signed with was an old friend of my parents’ who they’d known for years. I didn’t know him well, but he helped me manage my parents’ assets and their legacy after they died, just after I turned 18. I never really connected well with him, but my parents trusted him, and I trusted them, so I chose — foolishly, it turned out — to believe the best of him. I landed several roles in the following few years that made my career, roles that I couldn’t believe I got despite my inexperience, and I was grateful. I assumed he was just well-connected._

_I was about 21 when rumors started surfacing that I was paying off various production staff to be casted in some of my roles. I immediately dismissed them as completely baseless, and waited for them to pass, but they didn’t go away. I started looking into the possibility of a defamation lawsuit, when some accusers came forth with actual evidence that money had traded hands to get me into lead roles, and a full investigation took place. My agent, the man I’d trusted in my youthful naivete, was proven to be the one paying off directors to help jumpstart my career, using my own parents’ money, and was found guilty of bribery and money laundering, among other things. I haven’t made any of this public knowledge, both out of my own embarrassment in the truth about the beginning of my career, and out of a respect for my parents, who died thinking their friend was much more good and trustworthy than he was. The thing that made me want to keep it quiet the most, though, was the involvement of my little brother, Jisung._

_My agent had always been extra friendly with Jisung, which made me a little uneasy, but I figured it was his closeness with my parents that made him want to be close with Jisung after they were gone. But when everything surfaced, it turned out he had used Jisung’s information in his schemes to use my parents’ funds, which dragged Jisung into the investigation too. I could handle my issues with my agent for myself, but Jisung getting pulled into it just crossed a line. I put every resource and attorney I could into clearing his name, and keeping him out of any public scrutiny. I tried my best to keep tabloids and news outlets quiet, because it’s already a struggle to keep Jisung out of the limelight. He’s the only one in my family who’s never pursued a public career, and it’s important to me to give him as normal a life as possible. He was still just a teenager._

_I hope this email explains things well enough to help you understand at least where I’m coming from. I know I could have explained this all to you last night, but clearly we both got pretty worked up, and I don’t think I would’ve explained myself well, or you would have listened. If you doubt me at all, which I know is likely with how much you dislike me, I can provide legal proof of everything that happened, if you want. There are probably some records of court proceedings available to the public that you could find too, if you really don’t trust me and want to do some digging._

_Thank you for reading, and please don't feel like you have to reply to this at all. This is all just something I had to say. I guess I’ll also just say, I hope you the best, Donghyuck._

_\- Jaemin_

Donghyuck reads through the email so quickly that he barely registers what he’s reading from one line to the next, and finishes it with his heart pounding in his throat, entirely unsure of what and how to feel. He looks up, mind racing, and part of him wants to put it down and never read it again. But then looks back down at his phone, scrolls to the top, and starts it again.

The whole first half about Jeno still pisses him _right_ the fuck off, but he reads through it with a grimace on his face, trying to calm himself to power through to the second half again, reading through it all a second time, and then a third. 

It’s so much to take in, _too_ fucking much, and he finally tosses his phone down again to get up and shower, turning the water hot and letting it pound into his shoulders as he mulls over every damn moment from the last six months.

To think that Jaemin had something like that happen to him, and for it to be kept entirely under wraps was shocking, to say the least. He can't help but feel bad, at how awful it must have felt to find out your whole career was essentially a lie — a tool for someone else's gain. Their industry was cruel enough as it is, even without being used like that. Some part of Donghyuck wants to write it off bitterly anyway, because Jaemin was obviously born with a damn gold-flaked silver spoon in his mouth and the legacy of his parents’ careers laid out in front of him, like it usually is for rich people, but, still. Jaemin clearly deeply cares for his family, and for his work.

And Donghyuck had called him a selfish cheater to his face, had gotten up into his space and said he _hated_ him. He’d always known, at some level, that the rumors were still just rumors, but he can't help but recoil internally at how easily he'd equipped them, because he'd wanted to, and how he'd thrown them in Jaemin's face to wound him, whether they were true or not. _He deserved it, though,_ Donghyuck thinks bitterly, and then questions whether he even believes that's true anymore.

He turns the shower off with a bitter feeling of shame crawling up around his chest.

He _does_ hate him, though, still, doesn't he? Even if Jaemin wasn't as much of a horrible fucking person, he was still rude, and snobby, and undeniably wrong in his treatment of Mark and Jeno. Surely literally fucking _anyone_ could tell how into Mark Jeno was, right? Donghyuck groans into his hands as he pats his face dry with the hotel towel, frustrated and tired that he's even questioning that, now, too. Questioning _everything._

Donghyuck could see Jeno's feelings for Mark from the very start. It was in Jeno's quiet attention, in the way he looked at Mark, at his phone when Mark texted, the way he blushed when Donghyuck would tease him — mostly when they were alone, though, Donghyuck concedes. Had he never acted embarrassed like that in front of Mark and Jaemin themselves? Was Jeno really that hard to read for other people?

_“I think he tried to hold my hand at one point? But I messed it up because I was nervous and didn't realize what he was doing.”_ Donghyuck can hear Jeno recounting it in his head, and he releases a long sigh. No fucking _wonder_ Mark was so easily convinced Jeno wasn't into him. They went on like five dates and never even _kissed._

He wraps the towel around his waist and makes his way back into the room, grabbing his phone again and walking to the window, Seattle laid out in front of him. He squints against the rare sight of the December sun high in the sky, lighting up the city in a way he'd never seen before.

He unlocks his phone and skims through the email again, weighing every line, again and again. He lets his hand fall limply by his side when he finishes, staring out the hotel window for a long, long time.

_Could I really have been so wrong?_

༻❁༺

Donghyuck stares at the text from Jeno about the event and finally just gives a generic reply, resolving not to say anything more about it until they're at least both back in Vancouver and can talk in person. He spends the whole train ride home leaning on his suitcase, staring out the window at the passing scenery and deliberating whether or not to mention it to Jeno at all, trying to figure out a way to tell him about the fight and the email without giving away that the majority of it had been about him and Mark in the first place.

He _wants_ to tell him and Renjun everything, desperately, but wonders if it'd only hurt Jeno more, to know how much Mark really did care about him. And to know how much Jaemin had interfered, Donghyuck thinks with lingering bitterness, and with surprisingly less vitriol than he'd ever thought of it before.

Jeno returns to Vancouver near the end of January, winter now in full swing, and Donghyuck and Renjun pick him up from the airport together with Jeno's own car, both swallowing him up in a long hug on the airport curb despite the freezing drizzle around them. They throw his suitcases in the trunk and Renjun climbs into the backseat as Jeno takes the driver’s seat, making a point of moving his seat back as Donghyuck gets in beside him.

"I literally didn't even move it up, asshole," Donghyuck says, affronted, while Jeno laughs, and then crosses his arms while he grumbles, "I'm only a few centimetres shorter than you."

"Missed you too," Jeno says, shifting into drive and pulling away from the airport curb. "How's Vancity been without me?"

"Cold," Renjun answers from the backseat.

"How was Boston?"

"Colder," Donghyuck answers with an exaggerated frown, and Jeno chuckles.

"What about Seattle? How'd the event go, Jun?"

Donghyuck is quiet while Renjun talks about the event, giving all the details he hadn't bothered to type out in his texts — the guests, the gossip, the compliments he'd gotten from attendees and the company execs alike.

"Then _Chanyeol fucking Park_ stopped me to chat, just when I was about to say hello to Jaemin —"

"Jaemin was there?" Jeno interrupts, glancing at Donghyuck, even though Renjun was the one who was talking.

"Yeah, he and his manager Jaehyun were both on the guest list," Renjun explains. "I think he left early, though? I never did manage to actually say hi to him. You talked to him though, right, Hyuck?"

Donghyuck stays quiet, for long enough that Jeno takes his eyes off the road to look over at him for a second with a questioning glance.

"I, uh" Donghyuck says, unsure where to even begin, “Yeah, we talked."

"Well that's ominous," Renjun says, and Jeno asks, "What happened, Hyuck?"

"What makes you think something happened?"

"Because you're acting all cagey," Jeno answers simply, and Donghyuck gapes at him. "He's the only one who bothers you like that."

"'Cagey'?" Donghyuck asks, annoyed that he's so easily read.

"Yes, cagey! Now tell us what happened."

Donghyuck pauses for another second, taking a breath, and Renjun takes the pause as an opportunity to say, "What, did you fuck?"

" _No,"_ Donghyuck says quickly, whipping his head back to look at Renjun. "What the fuck?"

"Well? What happened then? We're gonna keep guessing until you tell us."

"He just..." Donghyuck sighs. "He asked me out. And I turned him down, obviously, and we kind of... argued. Like, badly."

"Holy shit," Jeno says, and Donghyuck recounts the conversation as best he can while still leaving out, well, the majority of what they argued about.

"Holy _shit,"_ Jeno repeats, when he's done.

"I _know_."

"His 'A-list cock', Hyuck? Really?"

"Shut up, Renjun, I was pissed off, okay?"

Jeno laughs, but it's lined with a bit of disbelief, and also a bit of pity. "Poor Jaemin though, to be turned down that brutally... I'm sure you don't feel that bad, and I'm not surprised you turned him down, but. Ouch."

"I know," he says, softly, insides twinging when he thinks of the pain on Jaemin's face, and a little bit at hearing Jeno assume he wouldn't feel bad about it, too. He really had hated Jaemin so vocally and so shamelessly. "But you guys haven't even heard the rest of it yet."

Jeno and Renjun's faces only go more and more into shock as Donghyuck tells them about the email and then as he reads it out, skipping the section about Mark and starting halfway into it, at the start of Jaemin's story about his agent.

"Holy shit," Jeno says for the hundredth time, probably.

"I _know_ ," Donghyuck answers. "And don't you dare say _I told you so,_ Jun. I know they were just rumors, but how the hell could I have known it was because of all _this_?"

"I wasn't _gonna,"_ Renjun says. "But, like. Yikes."

"I know," Donghyuck says again, sighing. "I never replied either. Do you guys think I should have?"

"No, I think you made the right decision," Jeno considers. "Like, he said himself you don't have to reply, right? Not if you don't really have anything to say back."

"And like, what would you even respond with?" Renjun adds.

Donghyuck thinks for a moment. "'Damnnnn, that sucks, lol'?"

“Stop,” Jeno laughs. “It was obviously really personal for him.”

"Jaemin Na, falling in love with our dear Donghyuckie," Renjun says, in a mockingly dreamy tone.

"Fuck off, he's not in love with me," Donghyuck scoffs. "And he said he'd never talk about his _feelings_ again. Thank god."

"I don't know, I still feel bad," Jeno says. "He obviously wasn't expecting to be shut down like that.”

“Wait, Hyuck, remember when you were looking him up and found all those rumors? How he’d like, never dated publicly before? He must’ve been pretty serious about it if he invited you to be his date to a premiere.”

Donghyuck pauses, never having even considered that aspect of it. _I don’t want to be your accessory to some premiere_ , he remembers saying, and it’s accompanied by a stark shock of guilt. 

Just how deep were Jaemin’s feelings for him? 

“You've gotta feel bad for the guy," Jeno says, voice full of pity.

"Mmm, I was thinking of feeling bad for him, but it looks like you're sorry enough for the both of us, so, no need for me to feel sorry too. Thanks for taking care of that," Donghyuck says, and Jeno hits his leg while Renjun laughs in the backseat.

"Stop, I'm being serious," Jeno complains, even though he's laughing a little too. "You seem chill about it now but you _must_ have been freaking the fuck out when it happened."

"Yeah, dude, I didn’t know _what_ to think," Donghyuck admits, letting his head fall back onto the headrest. "Kinda betrayed, honestly, I thought our hate was _mutual_. Never would've guessed Jaemin Na secretly had feelings for me."

"I mean, he didn't do a great job of showing it," Renjun points out.

"I know," Donghyuck agrees, and then sighs, resigned. "I swear I read that email like a thousand times.”

Jeno says, "I can't believe you didn't tell us about this right after it happened."

“I really did wanna talk to you guys about it sooner, but I wanted to wait til you got back."

Jeno nods in understanding, looking over to Donghyuck thoughtfully, eyes lingering on him as he asks, "How do you feel about him now?"

Donghyuck meets his gaze, held for a second before Jeno has to look back to the road, and then sighs as he lets his head fall back again, gently hitting the headrest.

"I don't know. Doesn't matter anymore, anyway."

༻❁༺

Donghyuck opens his laptop after his morning run to find an email from Johnny Suh sitting in his inbox. 

He hadn’t heard from Johnny since he’d sent him his modeling portfolio in the fall, old photos he hadn’t looked at since college, along with some more recent shoots he’d done for various roles and related gigs. Johnny had replied with ample praise but little to offer — _unfortunately all the shoots I’ve seen are pretty solidly booked til spring, but I’ll let you know if something opens up_ , he’d said, and Donghyuck had shrugged it off with minor disappointment, his own schedule filling up in the meantime with auditions for guest roles on locally shot TV serials.

It’s March now, and Donghyuck, having already planned to email Johnny again come spring to follow up, was happy to be beat to the punch. He opens the email eagerly and reads through some offers from Johnny — two separate shoots for the same line of cologne, both happening in L.A. in early April. 

_I know it’s really short notice (this shit’s really being thrown together last second)_ , Donghyuck reads, and laughs to himself, _but it’s a good gig. They said they trusted me to give them my best models, and I really think your whole look would be perfect for what they’re going for. I hope it fits your schedule, so let me know ASAP, okay?_

Donghyuck’s smile gets even bigger when he gets to the last line before the farewell: _And hey, Taeyong’s on for the first shoot, too, if that’s any extra incentive. :) Hope to hear from you soon!_

He forwards it to Jeno and immediately picks up his phone to call him, and within an hour is planning his trip to L.A. for April, finding some cheap last minute flight deals and texting Doyoung about crashing at his place for a few days.

He lands in L.A. on a sunny, perfect California spring day, Michael Jackson blasting in his ears and sunglasses on his face, and Doyoung picks him up from the airport, welcoming him to L.A. when Donghyuck slides into his Audi.

Doyoung's always been Donghyuck's favorite of Jeno's extensive extended family, the two of them visiting him and his fancy L.A. condo. Not that he's _rich,_ not compared to people like Jaemin Na, but his work as an attorney makes him enough to live pretty comfortably, and more importantly, alone, which is something, in a city like L.A. Jeno and Donghyuck like to take advantage of it when they can, when they get tired of the clouds and the drizzle and want to see the California sun.

"How was your flight?" Doyoung asks, pulling out into traffic.

"It was fine, I watched some cheesy romance movie on the plane and kind of loved it," Donghyuck answers, looking around at the spotless car interior. "Nice to feel warmth again — oh, one sec," his phone lights up with a call from Johnny and he swipes to answer. "Hey, Johnny! Just landed."

"Glad you made it," Johnny's cheerful voice comes through the receiver, and they exchange some small talk about the trip and where he's staying, Johnny easy to talk to as ever. "Hey, so the first shoot is tomorrow at eight, you got the email about it, right? Do you need a ride or anything?"

"Nah, I can just borrow a car from Doyoung," Donghyuck says, looking over to Doyoung to confirm, not that he doubts Doyoung will let him take his car for a day. "One of those fancy mansions in the hills, yeah?"

“Yeah," Johnny answers, haltingly. "I — Shit, did I forget to tell you that the shoot is at Jaemin’s house?”

“ _What_?”

“Yeah, man. I didn’t tell you that it's at his house up in Westwood?”

_No the fuck you did not_ , Donghyuck thinks, freezing. Jaemin’s _house_? Of all the fucking mansions in Los Angeles and its Greater Metropolitan Area, the photo shoot is at Jaemin Goddamn Na’s house? What the hell is Jaemin gonna think of Donghyuck showing up to his _house_? After the way they parted last time? The shit he said to him? He never even acknowledged the email; will Jaemin think he read it? Should he have responded after all? It’s too late to now, but —

“Donghyuck?”

“Sorry, wow," Donghyuck blinks back to the conversation, acting as cool as he can manage. "Wow, nice, I haven’t seen Jaemin in months.”

“Ah, unfortunately I don’t think he’ll be home? Mark mentioned he’s in London for filming. He rents his place out a lot for stuff like this, especially when he’s traveling.”

_Unfortunately_. Donghyuck exhales in relief. "Ah, that's — that's too bad. I'll have to catch him next time I'm in L.A."

They chat for another few minutes, and Donghyuck hangs up the phone with anxiety still swirling low in his stomach, deep and uncomfortable.

He can still feel the anxiety sitting heavily inside him when his alarm goes off early the next morning, but Donghyuck pushes it aside as best he can, focusing on his morning routine rather than all the questions that keep running through his mind about where he's headed.

He drives through the neighborhood slowly, finally arriving and turning to drive up the long driveway lined with trees, growing increasingly impressed til his mouth is hanging open as he pulls up to the house, just as the sun is peeking over the roof.

Whenever he'd pictured Jaemin's house in his mind, he'd always imagined something huge and gaudy, more glass than wall — one of those modern monstrosities that rich people build to look out at the world around them and how much better they are than it all. Maybe even a waterfall, or a koi pond or something, pretentious and garish. He never really pictured _this._

The house is _gorgeous_. The cobblestone driveway opens up into a rounded courtyard that's closed in by a Victorian style house, vines running up light brick siding toward a light grey roof. Bay windows line a large rounded two-story protrusion, flowering shrubs surrounding it and lining the path to the main entryway. The surrounding grounds are wooded, but not crowded, throwing a spotty shade onto the subtly landscaped ground beneath, more vines crawling along fences disappearing into the surrounding gardens.

It's large, but it's _inviting._ It looks like it's lived-in, well-loved. It looks like a _home_.

There are already a few cars lined up outside, today's crew consisting of just a few key people for the wardrobe, lighting, and shooting, on top of a few other models. He's welcomed at the door by an older Korean woman who shows him inside. Donghyuck makes his way into a large sitting room and library to find the crew already half set up, and someone whisks him away to get him ready as soon as he announces his arrival.

Making his way through, Donghyuck finds that the interior of the house is much of the same — comfortable, and clearly wealthy, but not in a showy, expensive way. Less of splendor, and more a real elegance.

_Weird to think I might've been visiting this house as his boyfriend,_ Donghyuck thinks, finding it difficult not to imagine Jaemin fitting in perfectly here in his spotless clothes, then imagining himself here with Jaemin too, lounging around this house and feeling like he belongs here, because Jaemin wanted him here. _Except Jaemin would probably say something to piss me off within seconds,_ he remembers, snapping himself out of it. Even the fleeting thought of Jaemin being here fills him with a handful of mixed feelings he _really_ does notwant to work through at the moment.

It's a lucky reminder, and saves him from feeling something almost like regret _._

"This place is nice," he mentions off-hand to the makeup artist brushing foundation over his face. "Jaemin Na's, right?"

"Yup. And of course his house is perfect, the guy is rich as hell," the guy responds, laughing a little. "This place is definitely pretty homey compared to a lot of these places in the hills, though."

Donghyuck hums noncommittally, remembering Jaemin mentioning how his parents built the house to their taste, wondering how much they had to do with the actual design and how much Jaemin himself had to do with keeping it the way it is, with how much he seems to care for his parents' legacy. 

They put him in black slacks and an off white button-up shirt, leaving it only half buttoned up, before starting the shoot, having Donghyuck sit on the couch in the warmly decorated library and do his job of looking beautiful and expensive for the next hour. They stay inside shooting until _the_ Taeyong shows up, looking even more beautiful and expensive, and Donghyuck kind of wants to bow before him instead of shake his hand. When Taeyong introduces himself, though, he's sweet, and a little shy, and Donghyuck likes him almost as immediately as he liked Mark. _Johnny's pretty good at picking the sweetest clients,_ he thinks with some fondness.

The director has them move outside, moving through a comfortable patio area and down some large stone steps crowded by overgrown greenery on either side, toward some gardens beside a well-situated in-ground pool. They spend some more time shooting outside, both with each other and on their own, until Donghyuck is dismissed for Taeyong to do some more solo shots, and told to be ready to be back on call within an hour.

He retrieves his phone, checking the time — around 11:30 — and starts to take some photos of the patio, the house, and Taeyong too, sending them off to Jeno.

hyuck

[8 photos attached] 

this place we're shooting is so fucking nice

did i mention whose house it is? :)

jeno

holy shit, nice!!

whose house??

hyuck

:)))

jaemin's :)))))

god hates me

jeno

oh my god

hyuck

but he's not here, thank God

apparently he rents his house out when he's away

because apparently he doesn't have enough of an income as it is

jeno

maybe he's just proud of his house?? lol

is the shoot going good though??

Donghyuck responds and pockets his phone as he wanders back inside the house, looking around gingerly. Back in the entryway he comes across the housekeeper again, accidentally bumping into her as she carries a pile of books out of what looks like an office.

"Oh, sorry," Donghyuck says, bowing a tiny bit.

"No problem at all," she says sweetly. "Everything okay?"

"Yes! Just looking around a little," Donghyuck answers awkwardly. "Uh, hope that's okay."

"Of course, of course, no problem," she says, and Donghyuck sighs in relief, scared for a second that he was about to get yelled at. "It's a beautiful house. I've worked and lived here since the boys were small."

"The boys... Jaemin and Jisung?"

"Yes, yes! Do you know Jisung? Most people just know Jaemin."

"I've, uh," Donghyuck flounders for a second, feeling awkward at revealing that he actually knows Jaemin. "I worked with Jaemin, last year, actually."

"Oh, really!" She seems excited that he knows Jaemin. "Vancouver or Florida?"

"I — Vancouver... How did you know?"

"Oh, those were his two big projects last year. He always lets me know where he's off to, always up and away, traveling all over the place. Not that I can blame him, of course, with how successful he is, but I wish he were home more, you know? Jisungie and I miss him when he's away. He's always such a sweet boy, and the best big brother."

Donghyuck blinks, shocked to hear Jaemin described as a _sweet boy._ And from someone who's known him his whole life, who lives with him, and knows him, through and through.

"Yeah, I've —" Donghyuck stutters, so caught off guard he almost forgets what they were talking about. "I've heard him mention Jisung a few times. He seems to take good care of him."

"Oh yes, he does," she coos. "Always babying him and treating him like he's still little. It's adorable, really."

Donghyuck really, truly doesn't know what to say to that, and he stands there looking blankly back at her. He knew Jaemin was protective of Jisung, from what he'd said in his email, but the thought of Jaemin _babying_ anyone refuses to compute in Donghyuck's head.

The housekeeper doesn't seem to notice him malfunctioning, though, as she offers, "Do you want a little tour of some of the house?"

"I... Are you sure? Jaemin won't mind?"

"Of course not, please, this house is as much mine as it is his, come on," she jokes, inviting him to follow her down the hall. "His parents were the best, too. They hired me as a nanny for the boys way back when, since they worked so much, you know? Wanted someone to teach them Korean as they grew up, too. They always made me feel like part of the family, though."

The end of the hallway opens into a wide living room, filled with some comfortable looking couches and lined with some more bookshelves, though these are spotted with knickknacks and framed photos of the family. Donghyuck looks at them closer, adorable baby pictures and family photos of them in front of a Christmas tree, at a park, and stops at a tiny polaroid of Jaemin with his arms wrapped around a boy Donghyuck assumes must be Jisung, both of them smiling wide, like they were laughing. Jaemin’s smile is so big and toothy, Donghyuck thinks, and it lights up his face so brightly. He keeps gazing at the photo while the housekeeper keeps talking. 

"Even when they obviously didn't need me to be a nanny anymore, they invited me to stay, saying my room was mine for as long as I wanted it. I lost my son when he was young, you know, so..."

Donghyuck looks away from the photos and back to the woman, now dabbing at her eyes.

"Sorry, sorry," she clears her throat, trying not to let her voice show that she's affected. "They're just a... a great family."

A loud yell, and then a crash comes from the next room over, and then, after a beat, the sound of loud laughter. The two of them rush into the next room over to find Jaemin, sitting on the floor of a large kitchen beside another boy, both holding their stomachs laughing, flour and a cream colored goop covering both them and the floor around them.

"Jaemin!" The housekeeper cries, holding her hand to her heart. "When did you get here?? I thought you'd be away until tomorrow! You boys almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, Ms Lee," Jaemin says, still laughing, brushing flour from his jeans. "I meant to tell you I was getting home early but I —"

He cuts off when he finally looks up to her and sees Donghyuck, standing there beside her, in his kitchen.

Donghyuck opens his mouth to say something, but. What the hell is he supposed to say? He suddenly feels an _intense_ shame, not to mention awkwardness, at showing up at Jaemin's house. Why did he think it'd be okay? Jaemin wasn't supposed to _be here._ Why did he take this job in the first place? What was he supposed to fucking _say?_ Hi, sorry for being a shithead to you, thought it'd be cool to show up at your house. 

Jaemin _wasn't supposed to be here._

Here, laughing and covered in flour.

"I —" Donghyuck stutters out, having an internal crisis as he watches Jaemin scramble up, trying futilely to brush more of the flour from his pants and fix his hair, only to brush more of a grey smudge through it.

The boy beside him stands up, too, and Donghyuck finally looks to him, standing about the same height as Jaemin, but with a younger face, longer hair falling over small eyes, a sheepish smile on his face, same as the photo.

"Donghyuck," Jaemin finally says, and Donghyuck looks back to him.

"I — Sorry," is all he can say, before he turns tail and runs away.

Well, not _runs,_ because he has _some_ dignity, which he‘s desperately trying to hold onto, but he walks as fast as his legs can take him, out of the kitchen, back through the living room, past the photos of Jaemin and his _family_ because this is his _home_.

He makes it all the way back to the entryway when he hears steps running up behind him, and Jaemin's voice calling out, again:

"Donghyuck!”

He freezes, wondering if maybe he doesn't turn around, Jaemin will just sort of dissipate into the air, and he'll never have to deal with this conversation and awkwardness at all. Ever.

"Donghyuck," Jaemin says, for the third time, and he steels himself and turns around.

Jaemin looks just as flustered and shocked as Donghyuck feels. He looks... well, good. Of course. He always looks good. But his eyes are wide, and his mouth is slightly open, like he wants to speak more, but doesn't know what to say, and Donghyuck feels like he probably looks the same, and they stand there for a long moment, just looking at each other, silent. 

"I'm here for a shoot —"

"Did you come for work —"

They both stop, having spoken at the same time, and it only makes it _more_ awkward.

_God, this is stupid,_ Donghyuck thinks, and steels himself to speak again, honestly.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Jaemin," he says, voice solid and sincere, “for showing up like this. I _swear_ I didn't know until yesterday that the shoot would be at your house. I really didn't mean to intrude."

"It's alright," Jaemin says, quickly, and they start speaking at the same time again, 

"You're always welcome here, you know —"

"I would never have come if —"

"Oh."

" _No_ , I don't mean I would _never,_ I —" Donghyuck stops, and sighs sharply, frustrated that it's all coming out wrong, that he doesn't know what to say at all. "I just mean, like, I didn't mean to come without an invitation. But I didn't even know until yesterday, and then they said you were away, so."

"Yeah, I came home a day early," Jaemin explains, and his mouth half turns up in a small smile. "I wanted to surprise Jisung."

"It looks like you guys were... having fun," Donghyuck finishes pathetically. This whole conversation was a _disaster_.

"Yeah! Yeah, we like to cook together, um, usually with less of a mess," Jaemin smiles, wider now, but softer than the one he’d had when he was laughing in the kitchen. Donghyuck is a bit speechless all the same. It’s like a completely different person is standing in front of him from the Jaemin he'd seen up until now. His smile falters as he continues, "Actually, I’d like to…. Can I ask, if I can introduce you?”

"To Jisung?" Donghyuck asks, shocked. 

"Yeah, I'd love for you to meet him? Um, are you in the area for long?"

"Just a few more days," Donghyuck answers, still bewildered. "I have another shoot on Thursday and then I'm flying back on Friday."

“Oh. That’s too bad,” Jaemin says, and sounds genuinely disappointed, and Donghyuck doesn’t know what to think of it at _all_. “Are you staying at a hotel downtown?”

“I’m staying with a friend, Jeno’s cousin, actually? Kim Doyoung. He lives over in Koreatown.”

For some reason Donghyuck expects Jaemin to give some reaction, maybe some sort of judgment, but all he does is nod and give a small hum of acknowledgement, and then they’re silent again. Donghyuck thinks he catches Jaemin looking down at his shirt, and feels suddenly self conscious of it still splayed open halfway down his chest. When he finally looks back up to Jaemin's face, he opens his mouth to speak,

“Donghyuck, I –“

“Donghyuck!”

They both startle, looking quickly to the direction of the library, where one of the crew members is sticking her head out. She stares at Jaemin when she notices he's there, too, eyes a bit wide.

“Oh – uh, hi, sorry to interrupt. Donghyuck, they wanted you back on set in a few.”

“Sure, yeah, I’ll be right there,” Donghyuck says, relieved to have an excuse to put an end to what he can safely call the most awkward conversation of his life. “Um, I'll see you around, Jaemin."

He barely dares to meet Jaemin’s eyes as he rushes past him, immediately scrambling out of the hall and taking a deep breath. He follows the crew member back toward the shoot, heading directly back into the fray, looking to think about literally _anything_ else other than what just happened.

He can barely focus for the rest of the shoot, enduring another hour of solo shots around the gardens that ends up feeling like an eternity. His skin glows golden in the daylight, the sun high in the sky, turning this way and that wherever the photographer asks, but his mind stays fixated wholly on the house and the person inside it.

He ends up chatting with Taeyong for a while after they’re done and changed back into their own clothes, the crew packing up around them. Taeyong is nice, and Donghyuck gets on with him well, bonding over Mark, and modelling, and places to see in L.A., but Donghyuck only half listens. The other half of him is antsy, a little terrified that he'll run into Jaemin again, or maybe a little hopeful that he will, and he hardly knows how to even _start_ parsing out which he feels more.

He's almost convinced he actually _does_ want to see Jaemin one more time, feeling slightly more prepared now. That is, until Jaemin himself actually enters the library, and Donghyuck immediately regrets _everything,_ all over again. Everything, a complete mistake, every single decision that has led him to this moment, here, being in the same room as Jaemin Na.

Jaemin catches the attention of the whole room, as he usually tends to do, even though everyone pretends not to have — Donghyuck himself included, embarrassingly. He talks to the photographer first, shaking his hand and making small talk — not that Donghyuck is tracking his movements in the room at all. But, well, he's hard to _not_ pay attention to.

Eventually he does make his way toward Donghyuck and Taeyong, and Taeyong turns to greet him familiarly, even pulling him into a quick hug.

"Jaemiiiiiiin," he drags out, smiling wide. "How have you been, man?"

Jaemin smiles back, and even though it's not even directed at him, Donghyuck still just _can’t_ look away from it, how it looks on his face, how it scrunches up around his eyes.

"You guys know each other?" Donghyuck blinks between them.

"Oh, of course, through Johnny and Mark!” Taeyong laughs, and turns back to Jaemin. “We haven't hung out in a while, though, man, you're too busy being big and important. I thought you were in London?"

"Yeah, I just got back this morning," Jaemin answers, explaining again that he wanted to surprise Jisung for a little extra time together before he has to start his next project. "Mark will be back in town himself late tonight, too, actually. Which reminds me, I wanted to ask you both if you wanted to come over for dinner here, tomorrow? With Mark and Jisung, maybe Johnny, too? Doyoung is welcome to join too, if he wants to come."

"Oh," Donghyuck blinks, and mulls it over while Taeyong takes his phone out to look at his calendar.

"Ah, I think I'm busy tomorrow? Yeah, I've got plans with a friend. Sorry, man. I'll have to hit you up next time?

"And _I'm_ the one who’s busy and important," Jaemin teases, and Taeyong laughs out loud. "Next time, definitely," Jaemin says to him, and then turns to Donghyuck with a questioning look _._

"Sure, yeah," Donghyuck finds himself saying. "I'll check with Doyoung but, yeah! I should be able to make it."

"Great," Jaemin answers, smiles wide, teeth glinting brightly, and it _is_ directed at Donghyuck this time, and it takes the breath from his lungs, just a little bit.

༻❁༺

"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I DONE," is what Donghyuck screams the second that Jeno answers his phone call on the drive back to Doyoung's apartment.

"What did you do? Are you okay?"

"NO, I'm not okay, I just ran into Jaemin fucking _Na_ at his fucking _house_ and it was the most awkward conversation of my _life_ and he had _flour_ in his hair and his _brother_ was there and they were _laughing_ and Jaemin was smiling so much I literally didn't even know he could smile like that and it's weird but really nice, also his brother apparently wants to _meet_ me as if I’m some nice old friend of Jaemin’s and not the asshole that rejected him and told him off then showed up at his house out of _nowhere_ like I had any right to come into his home and look at his fucking baby pictures.”

“Wow —”

“And _then_ for some unknown reason I said _yes_ when he asked me to _dinner_ at his _house_ tomorrow night —"

"He invited you to dinner?" Jeno interrupts.

"Not, like, as a date, there's gonna be other people there, and he said I could invite Doyoung too, which is cool but so weird, like??" Donghyuck finally stops to breathe, pulling into Doyoung's apartment building's parking lot. He continues, quieter, "Why would Jaemin still want literally anything to do with me anymore? Let alone introduce me to his _family_?"

"He obviously never hated you like you thought he did, Hyuck."

"But it's not like it's possible he'd still actually _like_ me after the shit I said to him, right?"

"Do you want him to?"

" _No,_ of course not, but I just... I don't know _what_ to think, Jen." He lets his head fall onto the steering wheel and groans. " _God_ , it was so fucking awkward."

"I mean, it doesn't sound like he was mad about it? Especially since he invited you back to his house, he probably isn't mad about you showing up in the first place. And you can always cancel if you don't wanna go?"

"No, I... I wanna go," Donghyuck says, and doesn't realize til he says it that he does, actually, want to go. "Even if just to, like, have one singular non-disastrous conversation with him."

"Then go! Maybe you'll have a better time than you're expecting."

"Meeting his _brother_ though?" Donghyuck groans again. "What if he's a mini _Jaemin_?"

༻❁༺

Doyoung is surprisingly not particularly shockedto receive a dinner invitation to Jaemin Na's house, but is more taken aback by Donghyuck _accepting_ a dinner invitation to Jaemin Na's house.

They're sitting in their favorite jjajangmyeon restaurant — the undisputed best in the city, thank you — and Doyoung squints across the table, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I thought you didn't like him though?"

"When did I say that?" Donghyuck says, knowing full well he'd said it many times, to many people. But not specifically to Doyoung.

"Jeno told me about everything when he was here a few months ago," Doyoung says, ticking up an eyebrow. "Are you that friendly with him now?"

Donghyuck shrugs. "I don't know. Feels rude to turn him down, though, right?"

Doyoung shrugs back. "Fair. Can't blame you for wanting to mingle in the upper circles."

"I'm not a damn gold digger," Donghyuck says, not liking the implications. As if being one of the selfish elite who lives in the Hills of L.A. is the be-all end-all, anyway. He shoves a bunch of noodles into his mouth. "I’ve had enough of rich people for a lifetime. But yeah, we're friendly now, I guess. Mark and his manager Johnny will be there too. You coming or not?"

"Sure, I'll come." He wipes his mouth as he chews slowly. "Sounds like fun. So his house is fancy, huh?"

༻❁༺

By the time Doyoung turns into Jaemin's driveway, Donghyuck is once again questioning every decision of his life that had led him to this moment in time and space. He'd been anxious about it all day, having actually dropped his phone entirely when he got an actual text from Jaemin, even though it only read: _be here by 6 for dinner :)_.

Who could’ve thought that Jaemin would use fucking _smiley faces_ in texts?

"Are you sure you wanna be here?"

He looks to Doyoung to find him looking back at him as he puts the car in park, looking him up and down, his clenched jaw and his fingers tapping anxiously at his thigh.

"Yes, I'm fine," Donghyuck answers, consciously making himself relax.

Doyoung squints at him, but doesn't say anything more about it. He does say a few _damn_ sat the house as they approach the door, though, eyebrows raised high, and Donghyuck responds with a nod. 

“I _know_.”

Jaemin himself answers the door, much to their surprise. Even more jarring, though, is the bright red apron tied tight around his waist.

He immediately smiles warmly at Donghyuck, and greets them both, stepping aside to usher them in, "Hi! Hi, come in, please. Doyoung, right?"

Donghyuck watches in amazement as he shakes Doyoung’s hand, and they exchange some pleasantries. _Pleasantries_. The Jaemin who barely said two words to him the first day they met. What the _hell_.

He shows them where to leave their shoes, and leads them down the hall and through the living room, now lit with a warm golden light, the setting sun beaming in through the windows. The dining room is adjacent, and they can hear laughter coming from it before they even enter the room.

“Donghyuck!!!”

If Donghyuck had had any lingering bitterness toward Mark himself – which he then realized he didn’t, not really – it would’ve disappeared as soon as he walked in the room, his wide eyes lit up and mouth in a wide, toothy smile when his eyes land on Donghyuck again.

“Mark Leeeee!” Donghyuck smiles back, pulling him into a hug. “It’s been too long!! I haven't had anyone to laugh at in _months_.”

“Ah, hah, sorry,” Mark laughs, leaning back onto the back of the dining room chair he’d been leaning on as they came in. “Sorry to leave you hanging. It’s been too long though, dude, like, almost seven months? Since I saw you guys at the wrap party.”

Donghyuck doesn’t miss the way he says _you guys_ and kind of wonders if Mark himself even noticed that he’d said it. It’s not a stretch to guess who’s really on Mark’s mind, whenever he sees Donghyuck.

“Donghyuck, good to see you!” Johnny greets from beside them, shaking his hand, then Doyoung’s, and Donghyuck introduces Doyoung to the both of them, before Jaemin finally speaks again.

“Jisung and I are actually cooking dinner together, so I really have to get back to the kitchen. It'll just be a few more minutes. You guys can have a seat wherever!”

He gestures at the dining table behind them, and Donghyuck turns to finally take it in fully, the round, dark wooden finish table, elegantly but simply set for the six of them. He starts to move toward it, only to hear his name called a second later.

"Donghyuck?"

“Yeah?” He turns back to Jaemin, who's still standing there, suddenly looking a little pained, or maybe nervous, if that was possible. “... Do you need help with anything?”

“Um, yeah,” he answers, pausing for a moment, “Do you actually... wanna come properly meet Jisung?”

“Oh.” Donghyuck can feel Doyoung’s eyes on him, on the both of them. He refuses to look away or meet his gaze. “Yeah. Yeah, sure, of course.”

Jaemin smiles, and Donghyuck follows him to the kitchen without a look back, not caring that Doyoung will probably kick his ass later for leaving him alone with strangers.

Jisung is standing at the stove as they enter, putting the lid back onto a large pot, surrounded on the large stove by smaller stone bowls. His back is toward them but Donghyuck can see that he's wearing an apron, too, and it looks like it's the same one as Jaemin's, and Donghyuck knows without having to ask that Jaemin had bought the pair for the both of them.

"Jisung!"

Jisung looks over his shoulder, eyes going wide when he sees Donghyuck, and whips around quickly.

"Donghyuck!"

"Jisung," Jaemin stands between them, gesturing between them, and they shake hands as Jaemin introduces, "Donghyuck, Donghyuck, Jisung."

"Hi Jisung," Donghyuck greets, smiling at him. "It's nice to meet you officially. Sorry I ran out like that yesterday."

"Oh!! It's okay! I was covered in pancake batter anyway so that probably wouldn't've been a great first impression."

He smiles shyly as he speaks, even though he seems eager, and Donghyuck thinks that he's _adorable._ No wonder Jaemin apparently dotes on him so much.

"Oh, I'm sure it could've been worse," Donghyuck jokes, and Jisung smiles again, relaxing.

“I've, like! Really wanted to meet you, though! I've heard a lot about you.”

Donghyuck pauses, knowing that anything Jisung knows about him must be the work of Jaemin. He wonders what sort of things he’d told his brother about him. _There’s this guy from Vancouver who looked great in a cravat. There’s this guy from Vancouver who told me I'm a selfish asshole._

He doesn't betray any of his anxiety, though, and instead just looks to Jaemin pointedly, "Oh _really?_ What sort of things have you heard about me, Jisung?"

"He sai— I _heard_ you were a good actor."

"Okay, I'll allow that," Donghyuck smiles, pleased. "Anything else?"

"Oh! And that you're a good dancer."

"Hmm, your sources sound like they know what they're talking about."

Jisung laughs, and Jaemin looks mildly horrified, and Donghyuck decides he quite likes Jisung.

At a brief pause, they can hear a quiet bubbling noise coming from the stove, and Jisung turns around.

"Oh, hyung, I think the soup is ready?"

Donghyuck backs away as they shuffle around, switching the stove off and placing boiling stone bowls onto a large platter, and he approaches when he sees Jisung putting heaping plates of banchan from the fridge onto another platter.

"Here, I can help with that," he grabs the plate from Jisung, holding it so he can finish loading it up easier, and Jisung smiles in thanks. Jaemin is on the other end of the obscenely large kitchen, trying to crack eggs perfectly into each simmering bowl one by one.

"I'm surprised Jaemin told you so much about me," Donghyuck says softly, so they can't be overheard. "And all so nice, too. That's sweet of him."

He keeps his tone lighthearted, but knows he's just _barely_ hiding how desperately he wants to ask more about it. It was one thing to know Jaemin had had feelings for Donghyuck, but that he was serious enough to have told his brother about him? Does Jisung know that Jaemin told him all about their legal stuff with his old agent? Does he know the things Donghyuck said to him? Was it Jisung that had to tend to his brother's broken heart when Donghyuck rejected him?

"Really?" Jisung asks, sounding genuinely surprised. "I mean, he — yeah, he's told me a — a lot," he blinks, a little awkward, and Donghyuck takes it as confirmation that he's been at least somewhat open with Jisung about their history. "But I don't think he's ever told me anything bad about you, really."

He closes the fridge and takes the tray back from Donghyuck, leaving him standing there, astonished. Nothing bad at _all?_

"Ah! They're perfect." Jaemin cries, and Donghyuck turns around to see him looking down at his handiwork with a proud smile, and he claps his hands a few times in excitement.

Donghyuck finds himself smiling, too, at Jaemin's enthusiasm, so novel and contagious, the way it lights up his face, and then Jaemin looks up at him as he walks over on the other side of the island.

There's always some sort of intensity, between them, always some push or pull, some anger or arrogance that drives them together or apart, like they're the same end of a magnet. But Jaemin is smiling, now, at Donghyuck. And Donghyuck is smiling back. And he has no idea what kind of intensity this is, only that it's hard to look away.

"Donghyuck, can you get the door for us?"

He breaks away, and moves to help Jisung.

They leave their aprons in the kitchen and finally bring everything out to the dining room, Jaemin honestly very impressively balancing the tray of bowls all at once, soup still bubbling quietly and deliciously in each. Donghyuck decidedly does _not_ think about how heavy it is and how easily Jaemin seems to carry it, specifically not looking at his arms beneath the short sleeved white t-shirt that fits him far too flatteringly.

Jaemin offers them all a drink, which the drivers respectfully decline, but Donghyuck accepts a bottle of peach flavored soju. He doesn't want to be too off-guard, but one bottle can’t hurt. 

"Ah, ah! Oh maaaan, this is so good," Mark says, after barely taking a bite, and burning his tongue. "Gamjatang, right?"

Jaemin smiles with the praise, and nods. "It was my mom's favorite."

"Awww, Nana," Johnny coos. "Such a mama's boy."

Jaemin smiles wide, laughing a bit, and Donghyuck full-on gawks. _Nana_? Jaemin Na babying his brother was one thing, but letting people baby him, too? He doesn't even look annoyed by it, he looks _pleased_. What in the _hell_.

Donghyuck is seated directly opposite Jaemin, which is inconvenient both for _not_ looking at him too much, and for trying to actually talk to him. But as Jaemin talks a bit about his mom, cooking this meal with her, Jisung jumping in with an anecdote that gets them all laughing, it's easy to watch Jaemin. He subtly watches his smiles, his laughter, looking away when Jaemin looks his way, and tries to understand what the hell was happening in front of him. Because the Jaemin he sees here is so... open. And comfortable. Almost _sweet_. Is it just because he feels more comfortable at home? Even with Donghyuck here? And Doyoung, who's essentially a total stranger?

At a lull in conversation Mark turns to Donghyuck, “So how’s Vancouver been, Hyuck? How’s… how’s everyone?”

Donghyuck smiles at his hesitation, and at Mark's inability to even try to be subtle.

He answers vaguely, and they talk around it, about everything and everyone, except the one person they both know he really wants to ask about. It’s bittersweet, in some way, knowing Mark still cares. It’s the same bittersweetness that came with finding out how deep Mark fell in the first place, that Jeno’s not alone in his feelings, even if nothing will come of it anymore.

They eventually catch up on Donghyuck's work, too, and he refuses to feel self conscious telling them that he'd landed a role on a locally shot TV serial. It's a little jarring, suddenly, to be reminded of the reality, telling Jaemin and Mark, fresh off the plane from whatever hundred million dollar film project they were working on in London, about his roles in TV serials. That they're in different _worlds_.

He watches Jaemin's reaction carefully as he talks about it, because Jaemin can be as nice and as comfortable as he wants at home, but if he still thinks Donghyuck is lesser for making a living doing what he loves, then he can stay in his damn mansion and far, far from Donghyuck. 

But as he searches Jaemin’s face, he doesn't find even a hint of the ridiculous disdain he’d shown previously.

_The bar is on the damn ground,_ Donghyuck thinks. _But it's something, I guess._

The rest of the dinner goes similarly, and considerably smoothly, considering how much anxiety it had caused Donghyuck. But he loves seeing Mark again, and the way they play off each other and Johnny is more than enough to fill the time with laughter. He gets on well with Jisung, too, even though he seems a bit shy, and decidedly ignores Doyoung's eyes on him every time he and Jaemin exchange even a single word.

Doyoung seems to get on well with all of them too, telling them about his work, though there's an awkward moment when he mentions the law firm he works for — Johnny turning to Jaemin, "Hang on, haven't you worked with them before?" — but Jaemin averts the conversation, and they carry on without a hitch.

They're cleaning up afterward when Donghyuck finds Jisung alone in the kitchen, and Jisung takes the pile of empty plates from him.

"Thanks. And, uh, thanks for coming over," Jisung says, surprisingly softly, and a little nervous still.

"I — Yeah. Of course. Dinner was so damn good, too."

"That was mostly Jaemin," Jisung admits. "He's a really good cook. And you can visit whenever, you know, he'd probably love to cook for you again."

"... I —"

"I mean, he just likes to cook for friends and stuff, and I know you don't live in the area, but like, whenever you're down, you know?"

Donghyuck flounders for another second, because part of him wants to dismiss it as courtesy, but Jisung seems so genuine about it. And something tells him that Jisung would never make an offer like that without knowing Jaemin would be okay with it, too.

"Thanks, Jisung." He ruffles his hair, and they turn to leave the kitchen. "Next time I'm down you have to teach me your special pancake recipe."

"Hey," the smile fades from his face, and Donghyuck cackles. "Jaemin scared me, okay? He came up behind me and I dropped the bowl and it went everywhere!"

Donghyuck is still laughing when they re-enter the dining room, everyone now standing around, getting ready to leave.

"Hyung, tell Donghyuck that it was _your_ fault we were both covered in batter yesterday."

Jaemin looks surprised to be pulled into the conversation, but quickly fires back, "Maybe you should've been holding onto it better, Jisungie, and put the flour away when you were done with it. I taught you better than that."

"Maybe _you_ should've announced yourself instead of scaring me," Jisung pouts, crossing his arms.

"But I love surprising my Jisungieeee," Jaemin teases in a baby voice, trying to pinch at Jisung's cheeks, and Jisung knocks his arms away.

Donghyuck watches the brothers tussle until Jaemin gets one good pinch in and lets him go, turning back to Donghyuck and straightening his shirt like nothing happened, Jisung grimacing beside him.

"Sorry, Jisung gets a little out of hand sometimes," Jaemin apologizes, and then breaks into a smile when Jisung _whacks_ his arm, hard.

Donghyuck can't help but smile at the two of them. "You know, I always wanted a little brother, growing up."

"Want mine?"

"Sure, why not."

"He doesn't like physical affection but he's great at dancing. And interior design."

"I like _affection_ , just not you pinchingmy fucking cheeks like I'm _five,"_ Jisung mutters beside them.

"He's got a bit of a mouth, will that be a deal breaker?"

"Oh, shit, maybe," Donghyuck laughs with Jaemin at Jisung's increasingly grumpy frown, until they're interrupted by Doyoung sidling up beside Donghyuck, looking between the three of them with a curious eye.

"Ready to head out?"

Donghyuck nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket for the first time in a while to check the time, only to find 7 missed calls and a ton of texts from Renjun asking him to call as soon as possible.

"Oh, shit. Um, hang on, I really need to make a call, can you wait another minute?"

He doesn't even wait for Doyoung's approval before walking out to the living room, phone already dialing Renjun.

" _Donghyuck,_ holy shit," Renjun answers in seconds.

"Renjun what the hell is going on, are you okay??"

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Renjun says quickly, but Donghyuck can hear a wavering in his voice that gives away that he's crying.

"Obviously you're not, Renjun, what's wrong?"

"I'm not hurt or anything, I just," he sniffles loudly. "It's stupid."

"It's not stupid if it has you this upset."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, you're right, it's just. I don't know, it's embarrassing or something, I guess."

Donghyuck sits in an armchair in the corner of the room. He tries to speak gently, unsure where the conversation is headed, "It's okay, Jun. What's happening?"

"I'm... I'm getting sued."

"Sued?" Donghyuck stands back up a second later, too restless to stay still. "By who?"

"Some fucking huge branding agency in New York," Renjun sniffles. "Apparently some brand design I did a few years ago was too similar to something they did, like, a year earlier."

"Who did you design for? Why aren't they the ones getting sued?"

"The rights are still in my name."

"Don't they have lawyers, though?"

"No, Hyuck," Renjun sighs, and Donghyuck breaks a little at how defeated he sounds. "It was this... this tiny company and I did it for dirt cheap just out of college. They don't even exist anymore. This big company only found me because of the Ralph Lauren deal and the publicity I got from that."

They're quiet for a moment, while Donghyuck processes. He hears another muffled sniff.

"I don't know what to do, Hyuck. I’ve been doing well but it’s not like I’m rolling in cash. How am I gonna afford an attorney?"

"Renjun, listen. We'll figure this out, okay? I'll go get Doyoung right now and explain everything and he'll know what to do, okay?"

"Okay."

"I’m — Sorry, I’m still at Jaemin’s. Are you okay? Can I call you back with Doyoung in a few minutes?"

"Yeah," Renjun says, sounding a little calmer now, "yeah, sorry, I'll be okay."

"Okay, I'll call you right back," Donghyuck pulls the phone from his ear, rushing back toward the dining room. But just as he reaches for the door it swings open and Jaemin enters through it, and Donghyuck almost runs right into him.

"Donghyuck," Jaemin catches him, grasping his arms, looking at him with concern, "Is everything okay, are you alright?"

"I — I'm fine, it's — it's Renjun."

"Is he okay?" Jaemin asks, with far more concern than Donghyuck would've expected from him. Donghyuck glances down at his arms where Jaemin is gripping him tightly. Jaemin lets go quickly, and Donghyuck doesn't have time to feel awkward about it.

"No," Donghyuck says, distressed. "Well, yeah, no, I mean, he's okay, he's not like dying or anything, it's just, like, legal shit, I guess.”

“Legal?”

“Yeah, some huge ass company in New York is suing him for some copyright thing and he's freaking the fuck out."

"Can't he just get a good attorney to settle it?"

"It's not that _easy_ , Jaemin," Donghyuck says, annoyed. Jaemin should _know_ that legal shit isn't that easy, even though he's fucking rich _._ "It's _time_ and _money,_ and- and _stress._ Doyoung is probably the only attorney we can afford, if he's willing to do us a favor." Donghyuck runs a hand through his hair, worried for Renjun, and embarrassed to be telling Jaemin all of this when it's really not any of his business. "Sorry, I have to get Doyoung and go. I told Renjun I'd call him right back.”

"Of course, sorry," Jaemin says, stepping aside.

"Um... Thanks for dinner, Jaemin."

He brushes past Jaemin, who lets him pass without another word.

They say a quick farewell to the rest of them before heading out, and Donghyuck explains everything to Doyoung in the car on the way home. They call Renjun and put him on speakerphone to talk through everything, and by the time they're unlocking the front door to Doyoung's apartment, all of them are considerably calmed down, Doyoung having gotten a grasp of the dispute and assured Renjun that he had a good case with which to defend himself.

"I'll do what I can, and I'll try to connect you with people either local to you or New York that can help you out, too," Doyoung assures him, and releases a tired sigh as he drops his keys onto the table by his front door. "I... I honestly have my hands full enough as it is, Renjun, but send me the files tonight and I'll look it all over as soon as I have some time, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Doyoung. Really."

They say their goodbyes and Donghyuck hangs up. He releases a long sigh, dropping onto Doyoung's couch. 

"God. What a mess."

"It'll be a pain in the ass, but there's no reason this should really have to go to court," Doyoung says, sitting in the armchair beside him. "He should be able to get it settled, if we can get the right people to work on it."

They talk about it for a few more minutes, all the possibilities and details of what could be done to help Renjun.

Eventually Donghyuck leans back, rubbing his hands over his face.

" _Really_ not how I was expecting to end the night."

"It was an interesting night," Doyoung says.

"You're tellin' me," Donghyuck sighs, not even knowing where to _start_ thinking about everything to do with Jaemin fucking Na.

After a beat, Doyoung says, "So, you and Jaemin, huh?"

Donghyuck twists his head around quickly to look at Doyoung, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just... thought you guys disliked each other, but you seemed pretty... friendly," Doyoung shrugs.

"Yeah, well, we were at his house, as dinner guests. It's typically a pretty friendly situation."

"Mhmmmm," Doyoung hums, and Donghyuck turns back around, looking away from Doyoung's suspicious eyes.

"What about you and Johnny, then, hm? I saw you guys trading numbers."

"We'd just _met._ That's typically a pretty friendly thing to do, too."

Donghyuck huffs a laugh through his nose, and doesn't dare bring up anything else, to avoid any more questions about him and Jaemin. Not that Doyoung would actually pry, but the way he keeps _looking_ at him and saying things all suggestively is _quite_ enough for Donghyuck to not want to touch the topic with a ten foot pole anymore, thank you _very_ much.

There's no guarantee he'll ever even see Jaemin again, anyway, now that they no longer have any real reason to cross paths again.

_It's probably for the best_ , Donghyuck tells himself, and ignores the part of him that twinges in disappointment.

༻❁༺

The next few days go by quickly, between Donghyuck's second shoot and more calls with Renjun and Doyoung for damage control. He's flying out of LAX by midday Friday, gazing out the oval window as the hills disappear behind them, watching the gigantic houses grow smaller, and thinking that that's all Jaemin is, now, really. All he can be anymore. His big, perfect house; his big, perfect smile; his big, perfect ego. All a tiny dot on the horizon. He came, and he left his mark, and Donghyuck likes to believe he left his. And now they can move on.

He finally snaps himself out of it, sliding his visor shut, because he's not in a fucking drama, and sure as hell isn't some love-struck lead repining his star-crossed love. Whatever he thinks of Jaemin, it doesn't matter anymore.

Renjun picks him up from the airport, instantly pulling him into a tight hug, and all thoughts of Jaemin are left behind as they catch up on everything as they head home.

Life settles back into the norm, for the most part. Renjun oscillates between angry and hopeful and hopeless and tired, dealing with everything on top of his regular work, and Donghyuck stays by his side for it all.

"It's not like they're gonna take away your degree and all the work you’ve done before, Jun," Donghyuck says one day, a few weeks later, carrying his laptop from the kitchen into the living room, where Renjun is sprawled on the couch on his phone.

"I knowww," he drags out, and moves his feet up so Donghyuck can sit across the couch from him. "It's just, like? Ugh, god, I just want it to be over. I feel like if I can at least have a solid plan in place for settlement, I'll feel better about everyth-oh? Oh shit, I have an email from Doyoung, hang on."

He's quiet for a minute as he reads, and Donghyuck goes back to what he was reading on his laptop, some article about Victorian home interior design that he truly has _no_ idea how he ended up reading. He's clicking on another article that catches his eye about West Coast housing trends when Renjun suddenly pops up beside him, eyes still glued to his phone.

"Holy shit."

"What," Donghyuck says precariously. "Is this a good shit or a bad shit?"

"A good shit, a very good shit," Renjun exclaims, finally looking up from his phone, and a smile spreads across his face. He shifts over so he's beside Donghyuck, holding the phone so they can look at it together. "Look, look, Doyoung said he got another lawyer to work with him who has even worked with this company's lawyers before — I guess they love their lawsuits, what _assholes_ — but like, they're pretty much guaranteeing that they've settled a ton outside of court, and Doyoung said they're like, really good lawyers? And should definitely be able to take care of it."

"Wait, wait, I'm... I'm not trying to ruin the moment here, but," Donghyuck looks up from where he'd been skimming a bit of the email as Renjun talked. "What about the cost? How are we gonna pay for these guys if they're so good? Wasn't that, like, most of what we were worried about?"

Renjun smiles again, "That's the thing, though, they're not even charging me that much. And Doyoung is helping too, because he's the fucking best. Like, I almost feel bad, and I tried to refuse, but he obviously makes so much more than me, and he really insisted, so. He told me to save my money in case I have to fly out to L.A. or New York or anywhere to actually be present for any of this shit."

"Holy shit," Donghyuck says.

"That's what I said!"

A laugh escapes from Renjun's mouth in relief, and he flops back down on the couch.

"Thank _god._ It’ll still be a pain in the ass until it’s settled, but still."

Donghyuck is still holding Renjun's phone, and looks down at the email again in wonder when his eyes catch on a name.

"Renjun."

"Mm?"

"Why is Jaemin CC'd on this email?"

" _Fuck."_ Renjun whips back up and snatches his phone from Donghyuck.

Donghyuck looks at him in disbelief. "What the fuck? What does Jaemin have to do with your lawsuit?"

"It's — he's — It's nothing, he was just — um," Renjun flounders, not meeting Donghyuck's eyes.

"Renjun," Donghyuck says, forcefully.

Renjun sighs heavily and finally looks at Donghyuck, guiltily.

"He was just... talking to me and Doyoung about it a little bit —”

" _Why?"_

"Just because he knew some lawyers, okay, but that's _all_ I'm saying, okay, I _promised_ I wouldn't tell you," Renjun rushes out, his hands put up defensively.

"You _what_?" Donghyuck asks, still trying to wrap his head around Jaemin getting involved in something that doesn't affect him in the _least,_ and thrown even more for a loop by the fact that Jaemin had apparently wanted to keep it a _secret._

"I _promised._ Please _please_ don't ask me for any more about it, seriously," Renjun pleads. "He'll _kill_ me."

" _I'll_ kill you if you don't tell me every detail about why Jaemin is involved, like, _right now_ ," Donghyuck demands.

"I _told_ you, it was just lawyer stuff, okay?" Renjun goes from guilty to heated in a moment, "And you're not getting anything else out of me."

" _Renjun_."

"No."

"Jun!"

"Let it _go_ , Donghyuck, there’s nothing else to say."

Donghyuck crosses his arms and glares at him, frustrated. There's no way in _hell_ he'd let this go without finding out the whole story.

༻❁༺

Donghyuck had tried to assume that Jaemin would be out of his life entirely after they’d parted ways in L.A.. Partly because he’d been distracted by real life shit with Renjun, and partly because it made it easier than trying to figure Jaemin out. Not that it was fucking _working,_ but he _tried._ The man was a damn enigma, Donghyuck would tell himself, to try to avoid thinking about how badly he wanted to figure him out, or why, or what it made him feel.

It definitely wasn’t hate anymore. No, the hate had long since dissipated, leaving only some indiscernible mess of… gratitude? Respect? Interest? The attraction had always been there – because Jaemin was _Jaemin_ and Donghyuck had fucking _eyes,_ thanks – but beyond that, it was hard to put his finger on exactly who Jaemin was, under all of it, when so much of what he’d thought about him had turned out to be wrong.

Well, not _entirely_ wrong. He _was_ proud, and could be a bit of an asshole, and was absolutely shameless about it. Which was a bit infuriating, but Donghyuck had always known he was probably a little infuriating too, and maybe Jaemin reminded him of himself just a little bit too much.

But the Jaemin he’d seen at his house in April, the Jaemin who was so affectionate, so violently protective of his brother and his best friend, the glimpse of that Jaemin that his family and friends knew and loved – that was the Jaemin that really tripped him up. 

And honestly, Donghyuck thinks, looking down at his phone where he has a text typed out to send to Doyoung, he’s probably only just starting to scratch the surface. 

Donghyuck doesn’t send it yet, dithering all night about it, mostly trying to get over how horribly he'd be exposing himself by insisting that Doyoung tell him everything Jaemin has had to do with Renjun’s case. Especially when Doyoung so clearly suspects something was going on with him and Jaemin already. 

But by the next morning, he finally sucks it up and presses send.

Then, he remembers that Doyoung never looks at his phone during work, and, already too impatient, sends him an email instead.

_If you don't tell me,_ he finishes out the email, _then I'll have to get really creative to figure things out. Might as well just spill._

Doyoung replies within the hour, and Donghyuck very nearly trips on a chair leg as he runs to his laptop when he hears the email ping. He can tell from the second he opens it and sees several paragraphs of text that it's not gonna be a _no, fuck off._

What it starts with instead is, _God, why did I trust Renjun to keep his mouth shut,_ and Donghyuck can practically hear Doyoung's sigh through the screen. _I guess I'll just tell you everything._

_A few days after you left L.A. last month, I got a call from Jaemin. He'd gotten my number from Johnny (who I've met up with a few times since, thanks for introducing us) and got in touch, saying he'd heard that Renjun was having some legal problems, and that he wanted to help him. I didn't even know that he knew Renjun, but he claimed they'd met a few times when he was in Vancouver._

_He asked to meet up for lunch, which was shocking enough, but then as soon as we sat down he started listing off the names of some lawyers he knew, some real big wigs that had offices both here and in NYC. He'd even already contacted one of them, who had agreed to take on the case. I was honestly kind of offended at first, because it's not like I couldn't handle it, but he was so insistent and... well, just pretty nice about it, and he had really good connections. It's not like I could say no to him._

_We did argue a little at one point, because then he started insisting on paying for everything, too. (The legal stuff, not the lunch. He did pay for that too, though.) These lawyers aren't cheap, and it's not like they were doing it out of the kindness of their hearts. Much as I wanted to do what I could, he insisted. Since then, I've relayed everything to those lawyers, and I'm still fairly involved in the case, but they'll be the ones handling the arbitration._

_The only thing he asked from me was that I not tell anyone, but I convinced him to at least let me tell Renjun himself, because I couldn't in good conscience take all the credit, or lie about how the bills were being paid._

_The only reason he gave for the secrecy was in case it was insulting in any way. If he had any other reasons, he didn’t say. Out loud, at least._

_Don’t worry, he was totally subtle. I don't think he mentioned your name at all._

_I know you’ve said plenty about what you hate about him, but honestly, the guy really mostly just seems stubborn as hell. I think I kinda like him, actually._

_That's everything he's been involved with, that I know of. Now leave me alone, I have work to do._

_\- Doyoung_

_P.S You better at least visit me next time you stay in LA. Or, better yet, invite me over for dinner again? That gamjatang was incredible._

Donghyuck stares at the email, reading it over a second time, a third, baffled. Jaemin wanted to cover the cost of all of Renjun’s lawyers? _Secretly?_ Why the hell was heinterested in Renjun’s lawsuit, of all people?

He responds to the email quickly, thanking Doyoung for the information and decidedly ignoring the finishing remarks and the postscript, pushing aside the implication or any thought that Jaemin had done it for _him._ He hadn’t even wanted Donghyuck to find out. Does he just do this kind of shit like charity? It’s probably barely even pocket change for him, but still.

Donghyuck entertains the thought of actually contacting Jaemin directly about it, and immediately throws that thought away as quickly as it came. What the hell would he even _say? Hey, thanks for being sort of weirdly invested in my best friend’s wellbeing. Mind telling me your exact motives?_

He can’t seem to think up any motives other than the ones he won’t admit to wanting, so he turns away and goes back to making his breakfast. 

༻❁༺

hyuck

doyoung told me everything :)

renjun

you’re the worst, he’s gonna kill me

don’t you care about me at all?

hyuck

don’t you care about ME? how could you not TELL ME

renjun

because I keep my PROMISES?? just because he’s your arch enemy/boyfriend or whatever doesn’t make it your business

it was very nice of him though

hyuck

fuck off

Something rubs him the wrong way, looking at Renjun’s text, even as he kind of hates the accuracy of it. 

Even he has no idea what Jaemin is to him anymore.

༻❁༺

The warmth of spring returns to Vancouver, and along with the pick up in auditions, prep, and filming that fill up the warmer months, comes Mark Lee.

Jeno finds out when Jungwoo knocks on his open office door on a Wednesday afternoon, leaning in and seeing Donghyuck seated with his feet up on Jeno's desk, to tell them that Mark is reportedly moving to Vancouver. Donghyuck whips his head to look at Jeno, who is staring blankly up at Jungwoo.

"What?"

"Mark Lee. Bought a condo in Vancouver," Jungwoo repeats casually. "Apparently he's moving up here. Seulgi told me that Yeri heard from her friend Chenle in Mark's agency who confirmed it. Guess he wants to stay up here like full time when he's not doing work stuff in L.A. or wherever."

"Oh," Jeno says, at the same time Donghyuck says, " _Fuck."_

There's an awkward pause, and Jungwoo continues, "Well, figured you'd wanna know since you guys were friendly last year, right?"

"Oh," Jeno repeats, flustered, "um, yeah, I guess. Thanks, Jungwoo."

Jungwoo shrugs and turns away, but Jeno calls out again, "Wait! Um, did you hear... when? He'd be back in the area?"

"I think Seulgi said he’d be here by summer.”

“Ah.”

With a final thanks, Jungwoo turns to walk away, and Jeno finally looks to Donghyuck.

"Jen-"

" _No."_

"Jeno, listen-"

"I know what you're gonna say, and I'm not going down that road again."

"But he's coming back to Vancouver! Wasn't distance the whole reason he cut things off in the first place?" Donghyuck argues.

"I guess, but —"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Because I got over him, Hyuck, it's been like a year. Stop looking at me like that! I _did."_

"Jeno."

"Donghyuck."

Donghyuck just looks at him, incredulous. 

"Hyuck, stop. You don't think I'm really gonna fall for him again, do you?"

"I don't think you ever stopped," Donghyuck says, and is afraid to add, _I don't think Mark ever did, either._ He'd still left out any of the details about Mark when he'd told Jeno about his visit to L.A., beyond mentioning that he'd been at the dinner at Jaemin’s. He knew as soon as he said it that Jeno wanted to ask more, in the exact same way Mark had indirectly asked after Jeno, too, and Donghyuck hated seeing them both act like this and not being able to do a damn thing about it.

Jeno blinks away at that, looking down at his laptop.

"I'll be fine, Hyuck. And Vancouver's a big city, we probably won't even see him."

"Well _I_ will. He’s my friend, too."

"Then see him all you want. If he wants to see me, he can get in touch himself."

"He will," Donghyuck says confidently.

"We'll see."

Donghyuck wants to argue more, but instead sits back in his chair. It's only a matter of time, now.

༻❁༺

mark

donghyuck!!!!!!! hey man!!!! did you hear i'm moving back up to vancouver??

hyuck 

fuck yeah i did

coming all this way for me? you shouldn't have <3

mark

hahahahah

i seriously missed it so much i had to get back lol

my mom is definitely happy about it too haha

hyuck

ah yeah it'll be nice to be back near family

when are you up here for good?

mark

sometime in july!! all my stuff's getting sent up in a few weeks and i'll be up just after

lets hang out asap!! get the guys together again hahah

hyuck

for sure

welcome back markly :)

༻❁༺

Jeno gets increasingly antsy the closer it gets to Mark's return. Not that he'd ever show it, seemingly calm as ever, but Donghyuck can _tell_.

Donghyuck meets up with Mark alone first, just a quick lunch to catch up and reconnect, and they make plans for everyone to go over Mark's, just a week after he gets back in town ( _my place is kind of a disaster right now but, like, whatever)_. Donghyuck is happy to see Mark no longer hiding his desire to meet back up with Jeno; even with the addition of Donghyuck and Renjun, he takes it as a pretty clear sign compared to the reluctant avoidance of the last time.

"Relax, okay?" Donghyuck pats Jeno's hand on the gear shift in his car as they drive to pick up Renjun before heading to Mark's. "It's not like Mark's gonna propose. Well, not today, anyway."

"Fuck off," Jeno pushes Donghyuck's hand away, and Donghyuck laughs.

"Okay, okay, seriously though. Just relax and see where it goes, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. It'll be nice to be friends again."

"Mhmmm. Friends."

Jeno gives him a side eye but doesn't say anything. They've had this conversation _quite_ enough in the past few weeks.

"At least Jaemin won't be there," Jeno adds. " _That'd_ be awkward."

Donghyuck pauses. "Don't say that."

Jeno glances over at him, "Why not? Wasn't it super awkward last time you saw him? Also we're almost there, text Renjun to come out."

"I mean, _yeah_ ," Donghyuck says as he shoots Renjun a text as they pull into the parking lot of his work building, "like, it _was_ a little awkward, but, then, I don't know... Dinner was fun, and his brother was cool. It — It wasn't totally awkward, I guess," Donghyuck finishes pathetically.

He'd told Jeno about the dinner, and even about Jaemin covering Renjun's legal costs, but kept it all on a strictly informational basis and didn't go _near_ anything that could hint to the fact that he might be feeling a bit more forJaemin than he'd initially let on. 

His stomach churns a bit at the thought of not being completely honest with Jeno lately, even when he knows Jeno would be the last person on earth to make fun of him for the complete 180 from proclaiming he'd hate Jaemin for all of eternity to… whatever it was he felt for him now.

He sighs. "He was just, like, such a different person. I don't know."

"Huh," Jeno is quiet for a second, pulling up to the curb, then shrugs as he settles back, "Well, cool. It'll probably be hard to avoid him now that Mark's up here."

Donghyuck hums in agreement as they see Renjun walk out of his building, wishing he could figure out whether the prospect was more exciting or terrifying.

"God, today was fucking _garbage,"_ Renjun complains as soon as he gets into the car, slamming the door shut behind him. "What the hell is the point of having a meeting for something that would literally take like one email? _"_

Jeno looks at him in the rear view mirror, "Rough day?"

"Imagine if people could actually fucking _read_ their emails? So we wouldn't have to have pointless meetings about deadlines we're not hitting because we're stuck in _meetings_?" Renjun heaves a long, deep breath. "God. I need to unwind. Please let me think about something else for a while. What have you guys been up to?"

"Jeno's nervous because Mark's probably gonna propose or something tonight," Donghyuck says lightly, and Jeno slaps his leg.

"Oh?"

"Well _Donghyuck_ just admitted he had a good time with Jaemin in L.A.," Jeno fires back. "Said he was —" Jeno does air quotes, "—'such a different person'."

" _Obviously_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Donghyuck asks, twisting around in his seat to look at Renjun.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Renjun says matter-of-factly, and then barks a laugh at Donghyuck's expression. "What, like it's a _secret_ you got him all wrong?"

"Whatever," Donghyuck turns back around with an annoyed _tsk._ "I'm allowed to change my opinion about someone."

"Especially when that someone is a gorgeous bajillionare with a gorgeous house in the hills of L.A. who loves to cook and declares his love for you in the rain on the streets of Seattle —"

"Fuck OFF," Donghyuck interrupts, turning back around to try to hit a laughing Renjun. "All he did was ask me out, there were no _love declarations_."

"But you _wanted_ one," Renjun says, taunting.

"No I _didn't,"_ Donghyuck matches his tone.

"But you want one _now."_

"Shut the fuck up, Renjun."

"Not a denial," Renjun points out.

"I _don't,"_ Donghyuck says firmly, crossing his arms over his chest, knowing everyone in the car — including himself — knows he's lying.

༻❁༺

It's honestly — somehow — not as awkward as Donghyuck expects it to be.

It's nice to see Mark again, as always, greeting the three of them brightly as they file into his new condo right in the heart of the city, considerably less flashy and more comfortable than the one he'd rented before, even with boxes still scattered around. He seems as happy and eager to please as ever, giving them each handshake-turned-hugs as he welcomes them in.

"Yo, sorry for the mess, guys, moving's the woooorst," Mark apologizes as he leads them through to the living room.

"You sure you don't want some help unpacking and stuff?" Donghyuck asks, taking in the slight disaster around them as they all settle in on the gigantic sectional leather couch. He yanks Renjun down next to him on the opposite side from Mark, so Jeno has to sit beside Mark, and he shoots Donghyuck a look that says something like, _what are you, twelve?_ as he sits. Donghyuck just smiles angelically.

"Yeah, dude, no worries," Mark answers, "I hired movers for the big stuff and Jaemin's coming over next week to help me settle in."

Next _week?_ Already?

Renjun blessedly responds first, "Oh, Jaemin's coming to Vancouver?"

Donghyuck had forgotten for a second that Renjun and Jaemin did actually have more rapport than the last time they'd all hung out together, and wonders how much Mark knows about the whole affair. About _all_ of their affairs with Jaemin.

"Yeah!" Mark answers cheerfully, but Donghyuck can feel all the eyes in the room on him as Mark speaks, "he's coming next Tuesday, I think? And just staying for a few days. But he's gonna help me unpack and shit."

“Poor guy,” Renjun laughs.

"Well, if you change your mind, we're around to help, too," Jeno says, and Mark smiles at him.

"Thanks, Jeno."

"Hey," Donghyuck finally speaks up, looking at Jeno. "Hey! Speak for yourself. I never volunteered to help anyone move."

"You literally just offered to help!"

"I was being nice."

Jeno just turns to Mark. "He'd love to help."

Mark and Jeno aren't clingy, per say, but it's pretty fucking obvious who the most important person in the room is to each of them, by the way they just sort of orbit each other, even when sitting down.

The food arrives just as Mark's powering up his Switch — the only thing set up in the whole room, pretty much — and by the end of the night they're surrounded by empty takeout containers, screaming at each other in a very intense match of Smash.

Donghyuck lets out a cry of defeat as Pit dies, flying off the platform and exploding for the last time, and he throws the controller down.

"FUCKING hell."

"Don't be a sore loser, Hyuck," Renjun says, and then screams similarly seconds later when his own Meta Knight gets kicked off the platform too.

"Don't be a sore loser, Renjun," Donghyuck says back mockingly, and Renjun tackles him on the couch, nearly crashing into an empty food container in the process.

"FUCK YEAH," Mark screams as the match ends, and Jeno flops back on the couch in defeat beside him, the two of them having ending up considerably closer throughout the night than they'd started, now nearly pressed against each other.

Mark turns to Jeno, a victorious smile on his face, "Sorry, Jeno."

"Whatever, I suck at Smash," Jeno looks back at him with a big frown, and Mark falters a bit.

"Don't look at me like thaaaat," Mark whines.

"Sucker," Donghyuck says, watching this unfold in front of him. "Don't fall for it, Mark. I learned to resist Jeno's puppy eyes years ago."

"You'll learn eventually, too," Renjun adds, and Jeno scoffs at him as Mark laughs, leaning back further into the couch, pressed against Jeno from shoulder to knee.

"Here, help me clean some of this shit up, Jun," Donghyuck says, starting to gather a bit of the mess around him.

"Oh, I can help," Mark tries to get up, only to be pushed by Donghyuck back down onto the couch beside Jeno.

“No, no, no, don’t worry about it. You paid, Renjun and I can handle cleanup,” and when Renjun gives him a _why are you volunteering me?_ look, he hits his knee, “Come on.”

Renjun gathers up what's left of the mess and follows Donghyuck into the kitchen.

"How long do you think we should leave them alone before Mark will ask Jeno out officially?" Donghyuck whispers conspiratorially as soon as they're out of earshot.

"Wha- Is _that_ why you made me come in here with you?"

" _Obviously,"_ Donghyuck answers, grabbing the chopsticks and spoons from Renjun's hands as he just stands there. "When else are they gonna have a chance?"

"Literally whenever? He lives here now, Hyuck, he can easily ask Jeno out when the two of us aren't here."

"Exactly, he _lives_ here now, which is why there's no reason to wait anymore," Donghyuck says, like it's obvious. "Mark's probably been waiting to do this since he decided to move back. Trust me."

Renjun eyes him suspiciously but doesn't argue any further, bringing the rest of the dishes to the sink.

"Think they're done yet?" Donghyuck asks, leaning back on the counter when they've finished.

Renjun shrugs. "Wanna go eavesdrop and see?"

"Fuck yeah."

It's surprisingly easy to stay silent, tip toeing in their socks across the rich wood flooring to crouch around the corner from the living room. They can just hear Mark's voice, quiet, the game music on the TV turned down to a dull hum.

"Man, I was so stupid. I'm sorry, Jeno. Seriously."

"It's okay," Jeno answers quickly.

"Are you sure? I broke up with you over a dumb text," Mark sighs, groaning lightly in embarrassment.

"It's okay," Jeno repeats, insistent. "We weren't really _dating_ then, anyway."

"I mean, we kinda were."

"Yeah, okay, kinda. But not for real."

"But now," Mark pauses, "like, now for real, yeah?"

They're quiet for a moment, and Donghyuck can't tell if they're kissing or just smiling at each other disgustingly, but he feels himself smiling with glee as he taps Renjun in excitement.

"Still," Mark continues, "I _am_ sorry. I could've handled it, like... way better."

"Well. It's all good now, yeah?"

"You're too forgiving, Jen," Mark says, and it's full of fondness.

"Maybe I just have a soft spot for you," Jeno says with equal fondness, and Donghyuck finally feels like it's getting just a bit too personal to be eavesdropping on.

He backs away quietly, tugging Renjun to follow him back into the kitchen.

" _Finally_ ," he exclaims as soon as they're in the clear, still smiling wide. "God, I thought I'd have to watch Jeno pine after him forever. Did I tell you I caught him watching _The Seventh Sense_ last week? At _work?_ That movie isn't even _good._ "

"Oh _god._ It's about time," Renjun laughs, both of them thrilled for Jeno, and relieved to have finally reached what had felt like both the inevitable and the impossible for so long.

They finally make their way back into the living room — very loudly, just in case Mark and Jeno were making out or something — and don't miss the way they stay pressed against each other's sides, both seemingly unable to wipe the smiles off their faces for the rest of the night.

"JENO LEEEEEEEE."

They're barely out of the building before Donghyuck and Renjun are both screaming, jumping on Jeno like he just scored the winning goal in a playoff game.

"Guys —"

"JENO LEEEEEEEE!"

"GET THAT BOYFRIEND!"

"Stop!!" Jeno says, but he's smiling so wide that they can't even see the whites of his eyes. "Shut up, you guys are so loud."

"But our Jeno finally got his dream man," Donghyuck coos, rubbing at Jeno's hair and getting shoved away in return.

"What did you even _do_ while Hyuck and I were in the kitchen? Did you just make out?"

"He probably sucked him off right there in the living room."

"That was _not_ enough time for a blow job."

"It could be if you try hard enough, Junnie, maybe you're just not good enough at —"

"Can you both shut up!" Jeno practically yells, eyebrows high on his forehead, deep flush on his cheeks, and Renjun and Donghyuck burst out laughing again, throwing their arms around him.

"Sorry, Jen," Donghyuck says, not sounding sorry at all. "We're just happy for you."

"Thanks," Jeno says, genuinely. "We didn't make out or — or anything, he just, like, asked me out on a real date and apologized for last year."

The smile on Jeno's face is embarrassed as he continues, "And he... He said leaving without explicitly asking me out was his biggest regret, like, he really thought I didn’t like him like that?"

"Awww," Donghyuck says. "Poor Markie. It's not all his fault, though."

"Yeah, Jaemin probably had something to do with it," Jeno says.

"Is... is that some _bitterness_ I sense in your tone?”

"Fuck off," Jeno laughs, elbowing Donghyuck in the ribs. "I admit he _may_ have been a little involved. But Mark is back, and it's fine now, and we're happy."

_No doubt he was more than a little involved in that, too,_ Donghyuck thinks, but doesn't voice it.

"We're happy for you, too, Jeno," Renjun says, and they both hug him close.

"Your happiness is already _too_ much, Jen, tone it down for us poor single people, will you?" Donghyuck teases on the ride home.

"It's your turn now, Hyuck," Renjun says from the backseat. "Pretty sure there's... _someone_ out there for you.

"Nah, I could never be as happy as Jeno," Donghyuck says with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm gonna be single and just leech off you and Mark's happiness forever. Hope you guys don't mind a third wheel."

“More like their child.”

༻❁༺

It turns out Mark _does_ want to take them up on their offer to help him unpack, extending the “invitation” (a cry for help, in Donghyuck’s opinion) to Donghyuck through Jeno.

jeno

yeah he was thinking sunday if youre free

he said jaem will be there too tho, just a warning

hyuck

already calling him jaem, huh? so close with your in-laws

jeno

shut up

hyuck

no :)

why can't jaemin do ittt he's way beefier than me

jeno

it’s not heavy lifting hyuck it’s just unpacking and stuff

and free food! jaemin's gonna cook again

can you stop pretending you don't wanna see him?

hyuck

nope

jeno

well i already told mark you'd be there so plan on it

do you want me to pick you up?

hyuck

wait don't you have a date with mark on saturday night?

jeno

yeah?

hyuck

then you'll already be at mark's on sunday

jeno

why are you assuming i'm staying the night

hyuck

why aren't you?

jeno

it's our first date??

hyuck

no it's not

jeno

-_-

do you want me to pick you up or not

hyuck

it's okay i'll drive myself

i won't make you leave mark's bed just to come pick me up smelling like morning sex

😷😷😷

jeno

god you're the worst

༻❁༺

As Donghyuck drives into the city on Sunday afternoon, he imagines how his conversation with Jaemin might go when he finally sees him, when they finally get a chance to talk, after such a long time. He tries to decide if it’s even _worth_ the mortifying awkwardness of talking about things, when they’ve both already obviously changed so much, when they can just try to be friends and pretend like last year never even happened.

He could apologize to Jaemin — he _wants_ to apologize. He wants to apologize for how he treated him last year, and the shit he said to him in Seattle. He wants to apologize for being such an asshole, with not enough remorse and a little too much confidence. He wants to think that maybe it’d be followed up with an apology from Jaemin, too, and then — then, well. Then it depends on what Jaemin wants.

What happens instead, is that Donghyuck barely even _sees_ Jaemin the whole damn day. 

Jeno lets him into Mark’s apartment, and he immediately starts looking around as if Jaemin was hiding behind a potted plant or something, before Jeno informs him that both Mark and Jaemin are out, doing some grocery shopping to stock up his kitchen and for whatever dinner Jaemin had planned. 

By the time they get back, Donghyuck is _sweaty_ from moving boxes into Mark’s office-slash-studio, now in the middle of lining one of the walls with fucking _CD_ s.

“Mark, who the hell still has this many CDs in The Year of Our Lord 2020?” Donghyuck says as soon as Mark walks in, holding out a handful of plastic cases. Then Jaemin pops his head into the doorway behind him, and Donghyuck pauses, “Oh.”

“Hey, Donghyuck,” Jaemin nods to him, stepping into the room a bit more, and Donghyuck finds that he’s the most casually dressed he’s ever seen him, a plain white t-shirt falling loose over black track sweats. And he still looks like a damn model. Of _course_. He smiles at Donghyuck and his handful of CDs. “Sorry, Mark’ll never get rid of them.”

“They’re sentimental, okay?” Mark says defensively. “And I still listen to them!”

“All eight thousand of them, huh?” Donghyuck teases, then gestures at the various instruments set up on the opposite side of the room, “I didn’t even know you were this into music.”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, always have been. This isn’t even all my stuff, actually, I left some instruments at my parent’s house when I moved out, too.”

“How many instruments do you _play_?”

“Just, like, guitar mostly, but some piano and bass, too? And like, I played the flute in high school. But literally haven’t touched it since, like, if I tried to play it’d be _baaad_.”

“He sings, too, apparently,” Jeno interjects, “but he hasn’t let me hear him yet.”

“I — ” Mark starts, shy, giving him an absolutely disgustingly soft smile, “I’ll sing for you if you want sometime.”

“Gross,” Jaemin says, but he has a big, soft smile on his face too. “Anyway, I need to get to cooking. You guys good with dakgalbi?”

“ _Fuck_ yeah,” Donghyuck says, and Jaemin pauses to give him a smile before backing out of the room, and Donghyuck knows — since Mark and Jeno are still in their own world — that it’s just for him.

Then, however, Donghyuck finds himself stuck unloading fucking _CDs_ for the next half hour. 

And _then_ it’s followed up by a mountain of _DVDs_ to unload into built-in hidden shelving in the living room. 

And between asking Mark why he’s living in 2005, and laughing at his band DVDs and some high school yearbooks he finds tucked away under some of them, he finds _no_ reason or opportunity to sneak to the kitchen to talk to Jaemin. At one point he hears loud laughter coming from the kitchen, Jaemin’s high cackle echoing along with Mark’s, and tries not to physically grimace with jealousy at _Mark,_ of all people, who is actively dating _Jeno_ , for spending time with Jaemin. 

He sighs, and then rolls his eyes at himself for being fucking _ridiculous_. 

The _one_ time he finally tries to slide into the kitchen on his way back from the bathroom, Useless Best Friend Jeno Fucking Lee hears him in the hall and calls for his help with something, and he has to swerve away _again._ Had he really not done Jeno enough of a solid by leaving him and Mark alone to finally get their shit together last week? And _this_ is how he repays him?

By the time dinner is ready, and Donghyuck is seated directly across from Jaemin _again,_ he is effectively Grumpy, and the entire day has been written off as solid L. Not that dinner isn’t a good time, of course — Mark and Jeno are still gross, but cute, and Jaemin is quiet, but sweet and engaging — the Jaemin that Donghyuck has finally come to understand as the Usual Jaemin, the _real_ Jaemin.

He thinks, by the end of the night, that maybe it’ll be alright to settle into a new start, a new friendship, without having to bring up all their past. 

But it’s when he’s saying goodbye, and walking out the door, that he finds he doesn’t really want to go. Not with so much left unsaid.

༻❁༺

Donghyuck ends up at Jeno’s apartment a few days later, knocking _very_ loudly before entering, knowing Mark was already here. Reluctant as he had been to third wheel for real, even with an invitation, they’d discovered Mark had never seen the _Star Trek_ reboot(despite his ridiculous DVD collection). So, _obviously_ he had to be there.

Jeno and Mark curl up comfortably on Jeno’s couch while Donghyuck sits his sad, single ass in the armchair, all by his lonesome (while Jeno tells him to stop being dramatic), each of them nursing a bottle of soju and making each other take a drink every time Kirk and Spock are particularly gay.

Eventually the Chris Pine vs Hemsworth debate dies down — which Mark very unfairly wins by saying he’s friends with not only one but _both_ of them — and by the end of the movie, Jeno is completely passed out, while Donghyuck and Mark are on their second bottles.

Donghyuck signals to ask Mark if he wants to move out to the tiny third floor balcony, and Mark manages to extract himself from Jeno, following him outside. It’s a cool night, just on the borderline of chilly, but it feels nice against Donghyuck’s alcohol-flushed cheeks. He slides his legs underneath the banister, dangling his feet over the edge, like he and Jeno have done countless times over the years. 

Mark slides down beside him, and they lean into the iron spindles, legs and soju bottles hanging loose in the cool summer air.

“How’d you like the movie?”

“It was pretty good. Very… very J.J. Abrams,” Mark laughs, and Donghyuck kicks him lazily. “And definitely, like, way more gay than I was expecting.”

“The second one is even worse, dude,” Donghyuck says. “It’s like straight up _romantic_.”

“Jaemin would probably love it, then,” Mark chuckles quietly. “I’ll have to ask if he’s seen them.”

Jaemin, Jaemin. Donghyuck doesn’t speak for a long moment.

Finally, he asks, voice quiet, “Has Jaemin told you everything?"

"As far as I know, yeah," Mark answers, taking it in stride, seemingly unsurprised at Donghyuck’s shift in conversation.

"Surprised you both still wanna hang out with me, honestly."

"Why?" Mark asks, turning to look at him, sounding genuinely confused.

"I mean, I wasn't exactly the nicest person to him."

"Ah," Mark looks back ahead and shrugs. "Guess he wasn't always the nicest to you, either."

"True," Donghyuck concedes. "Does he know we're hanging out tonight?"

"No, actually," Mark smiles mischievously, just a tiny crook of the corner of his mouth. “Just told him I was coming over to Jeno’s.”

"Look at you," Donghyuck says, laughing, "going behind your best friend's back."

"Stop, it's not like that," Mark laughs, kicking Donghyuck back with their swinging legs. "I wasn’t even sure if you were coming at first. Should I be, like, threatening you or something instead?” He shifts his voice lower, trying and failing to make himself sound more intimidating, “Stay away from my best friend, you asshole."

Donghyuck snorts. "You can't tell me what to do."

"I can try."

"And if I say no?"

Mark pauses, catching up with the actual conversation they're having, and Donghyuck immediately realizes that he may have said too much.

"No to staying away from Jaemin?"

Donghyuck shrugs, trying to stay nonchalant, looking for how to answer, barely knowing himself how to answer.

"Yeah," is all he can say, finally, because it's the truth, and Mark looks at him curiously. "What?" Donghyuck asks when Mark just keeps looking at him, "Things change. We hung out in April, too, remember?"

"Okay, true," Mark smiles at the memory. "I don't know, man, you coulda just been coming to see me and Johnny or something!"

"At Jaemin's _house?_ " Donghyuck laughs. "If I wanted to avoid him I could probably find a better place to hang out with you guys."

“Good point,” Mark nods, conceding, and when their smiles fade he continues more seriously, "He was really happy you came over that day — ah, shit,” He stops, running his hand over his face, “Sorry, I probably shouldn't be telling you this."

Donghyuck feels something in him stir a bit at the look behind the curtain — Mark had always been careful, casual as he acted, not to really expose any of Jaemin's own feelings. Tipsy Mark didn’t seem to be as careful. 

"We were both glad you came, though, yeah? Jisung too."

“I’m — I’m glad I did, too,” Donghyuck admits, keeping his eyes fixed on the bottle of soju in his hands, turning it over and avoiding Mark’s gaze. He smirks when he finally looks back to Mark. “That food was so fucking _good_.”

Mark giggles. “Dude, wasn’t it though? Seriously. Jaem really —” he pauses to yawn, “—really loves to cook for people he cares about, you know?”

“You really just reveal all of Jaemin’s state secrets when you’re drunk, huh?” Donghyuck teases, ignoring the way his heart is trying its best to leap out of his chest. “You’re officially out of the running for best friend of the year. Which I think _I_ deserve anyway, for getting you and Jeno back together.”

Mark half chuckles, clearly just a bit too drunk to think of a quip fast enough. “Thanks for that. But hey, wait! Fuck you, I’m a _great_ best friend. Jaemin’s just… When it comes to you, you know. Well. You know your history. It’s _complicated_ or whatever.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I know,” Donghyuck says quietly. “ _Complicated_ feels like an understatement.”

“I’ve never seen Jaemin be so....” Mark trails off, and doesn’t finish the sentence. 

Donghyuck wants to ask, _be so what? Stupid? Whipped? Heartbroken? What did I_ do _to him?_ But he stays quiet.

“I’ve known him a long time,” Mark continues, thoughtfully. “He’s got a lot of heart, you know?”

“Yeah. I’m starting to realize that.”

This makes Mark turn to look at Donghyuck. “Yeah?”

Donghyuck nods, smiling, “He’s definitely growing on me.”

Mark smiles back. 

“Though that feels like an understatement too,” Donghyuck admits, half under his breath, and it feels both safe and a little terrifying, to be honest, here in the dark. He keeps talking before Mark can process that statement, “You know, this is the first time I’ve really talked about any of this with anyone that wasn't Jeno or Renjun, either,” Donghyuck admits.

Mark hums in acknowledgment, and they’re quiet for another long moment. 

“Man, I shouldn’t have drank so much,” Mark sighs, looking down at the half empty bottle. “Jaemin’s leaving tomorrow so I gotta get back in the morning.”

“Tomorrow?” Donghyuck asks, surprised. “So soon?”

“Yeah,” Mark says through another yawn, not even registering the turmoil he just sent Donghyuck into. “He stayed home tonight to pack, but his flight’s at like nine or something so he’ll be out pretty early. Ugh, I should probably go sleep.”

“Yeah, dude, go bring Jeno to bed, too,” Donghyuck says, tapping Mark’s thigh in farewell. “I’ll probably chill here for a while longer.”

“‘Kay.” Mark groans as he stands up, stretching with another loud yawn. “Night, Hyuck.”

“Night, Mark.”

Donghyuck listens to the door slide shut behind him, and he’s left with just his thoughts and the quiet night around him.

_People he cares about_ echoes in his head.

He couldn’t let himself hope, though, that Jaemin was still hoping for anything from Donghyuck. That he still cared, still _wanted_ Donghyuck, in the way that he had back in December. 

Not after all this time.

༻❁༺

Donghyuck can’t sleep.

His mind keeps running a thousand miles an hour, keeping him awake and twisting and turning even when he finally dozes off into a half-asleep dream. He checks his phone when he sees daylight just starting to lighten the sky, the time reading 4:36 AM.

Jaemin was leaving. Donghyuck was the one who left last time, and he feels such a different sort of clenching in his chest this time, at the thought of Jaemin flying away without another word between them. There _was_ an understanding, though, Donghyuck thinks, hopes — some unspoken knowledge that things aren’t the same between them as they were last year. There had to be.

But even _Mark_ hadn’t known. He’d seemed so surprised that Donghyuck didn’t _hate_ Jaemin, let alone actually _liked_ him.

Jaemin _must_ know, though. He wouldn’t be leaving Vancouver thinking Donghyuck still couldn’t stand him. Right?

Donghyuck gets out of bed.

The drive to Mark’s apartment is silent save the running of his car’s engine, even his mind finally settling into a surprisingly dull hum with the singular focus of getting to Jaemin, of telling him everything he’s meant to say for months.

He knocks on Mark’s door loudly, not caring if he was waking up the neighbors. His hand falls into the air mid-knock as Mark swings the door open.

“Donghyuck?”

“Mark.”

“What are you doing here?” Mark asks, confused.

“Is Jaemin here?” Donghyuck asks, far past the point of embarrassing himself.

“Oh,” Mark’s surprise immediately falters into disappointment. “He just left for the airport.”

“Oh.” Donghyuck’s shoulders fall.

“He’s gotta catch his flight,” Mark says apologetically, mercifully not asking Donghyuck why he’s at his door looking for Jaemin at 5 AM. He knows enough, Donghyuck thinks, to be able to figure it out. “Do you want me to call him and have him turn around, or?”

“No,” Donghyuck says quickly, putting his hands up. “No, it’s okay.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah,” Donghyuck sighs. “No worries.”

“Hyuck —”

“It’s alright, Mark,” Donghyuck says, already backing away. “Maybe I’ll just call him when he’s back in L.A. or something.”

Mark looks at him for a moment, like he wants to say more, but finally just says, “Okay. Do you wanna come in?” 

“Nah, it’s early as fuck,” Donghyuck says, letting out a half hearted chuckle. He shoos Mark back into his apartment, “Go sleep off all that soju.”

“Alright,” Mark smiles. 

“Thanks, Mark,” Donghyuck waves, starting to walk away.

“I think he said he wants to visit again in a few weeks,” Mark calls out, Donghuck turning back to look at him in the doorway. “He’s got a good reason to come back.”

Donghyuck smiles. 

“Damn right he does.”

He lets his head fall onto his steering wheel when he gets back into his car, and heaves a deep sigh. It wasn’t really a conversation he wanted to have over the phone, really, but he didn’t want to wait, either. Patience was never Donghyuck's strong suit.

He drives home heavy with disappointment.

He fumbles with his keys as he approaches his apartment building, not looking up until his hand is reaching out to pull on the handle of the entryway’s glass door, and he sees a hand reaching toward the other side of the door, about to push it open. He looks up, and he freezes.

Jaemin stares back at him, shock mirrored on his face, both their hands frozen halfway to the door.

Donghyuck finally gathers himself enough to let his hand fall, and he backs away as Jaemin pushes the door open, and steps out into the early morning light.

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here?” Donghyuck answers, still caught completely off guard, and Jaemin just laughs at him. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“I meant what are you doing _outside_ ,” Jaemin says, and doesn’t answer Donghyuck’s question.

“I went to see you,” Donghyuck admits, and Jaemin looks surprised. “But Mark said you already left.”

“I came here to see _you,_ but, _"_ Jaemin says, eyelashes fluttering, "you went all the way to Mark’s to see me before I left?”

“Yeah. Why aren’t you at the airport?”

“I started to head there, but I had the cab turn around, because —” Jaemin cuts himself off, and Donghyuck sees his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “Because I wanted to see you before I left. Sorry, I should’ve called or texted first.”

“It’s okay,” Donghyuck finds himself smiling. “We found each other.”

Jaemin smiles back at him, and Donghyuck can feel his heart pounding in his chest as the sun starts to hit the windows of the building overhead.

“Donghyuck, listen —”

“Jaemin, wait, I —” Donghyuck interrupts, and finds that now that Jaemin is in front of him, everything he’d wanted to say dies on his tongue. “Um. Thank you. I wanted to say thanks. For helping Renjun.”

Jaemin looks surprised, and then shakes his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have let Doyoung tell Renjun —”

“No, no, don’t blame Renjun, it was actually an accident, like, he was just showing me an email and I noticed you were cc’d and I would not shut up until I found out what happened. Even Renjun wouldn’t actually spill so I sort of forced Doyoung to tell me everything. He can’t say no to me like Renjun can,” Donghyuck smirks. “Seriously, though. Thank you. I’m sure Renjun said it already, but... I really wanted to say it on his behalf, too.”

“Don’t,” Jaemin interrupts, and when Donghyuck looks taken aback, continues quickly, “I mean, don’t thank me for him. I was happy to help him out, but you —" He sighs, voice going quiet, "You know I did it for you, Hyuck."

Donghyuck's mouth falls open wordlessly.

"I —"

"Donghyuck, listen," Jaemin repeats, finally. "I'm kind of sick of avoiding talking around everything, and I know I said I wouldn't say anything about it anymore, but I also know that you wouldn't string me along, or lie to me, and I don't know what to think anymore, so. If you still don't want this, or me, just. That's fine. I'll never talk to you again, if you really want. But I still feel the same. As I did in Seattle. And if you haven't changed your mind, then it's —"

Donghyuck cuts him off with his lips on Jaemin's.

Jaemin lets out an _mmph_ of surprise, freezing for a second, and then he's relaxing into it, letting his mouth fall open and sliding back against Donghyuck's lips in the sweetest way. And for all the intensity between them, all the history, all the fire that burned up everything around and inside them, all that's left is the sweet, achingly sweet brush of Jaemin's lips against his, all the affection that it settles deep in his bones.

Donghyuck feels Jaemin's hand come to settle on his neck, and he twists his hands into Jaemin's shirt, his knuckles pressing into his waist, pulling him closer.

When they finally break apart, the sun has just finally risen enough to shine on them, illuminating all the lines of Jaemin's face, the curve of his smile, the tips of his eyelashes when he blinks down at Donghyuck.

"I changed my mind," Donghyuck says, and it makes Jaemin smile even wider, hand still lingering on Donghyuck's neck. Donghyuck pulls him down to kiss him again.

Donghyuck presses into the kiss this time, more insistent, and Jaemin hums, his hand running up his neck and into his hair. Donghyuck leans into it, opening his mouth for him, and they stand wrapped around each other, kissing in the morning sunlight, until Jaemin is smiling too much and they have to break apart to smile at each other in the morning sunlight instead.

Donghyuck finally backs up, just the tiniest bit, and Jaemin's hand falls from his neck only to run down his arm and capture his hand, instead.

"I had a whole thing I was gonna say when I saw you," Donghyuck says. "But that was way better."

Jaemin smiles his perfect smile, and Donghyuck thinks he's really the fucking luckiest.

"Also, don't you have a plane to catch?"

Jaemin gestures with his free hand toward the glass door to the apartment, where Donghyuck can see a suitcase standing alone just inside the entryway.

"I already rescheduled it to a later flight in the car on the way here."

Donghyuck looks back to Jaemin, smirking. "Little presumptuous."

" _Hopeful_ ," Jaemin corrects, and Donghyuck squeezes his hand.

"Wanna come up?"

"Yeah."

They head up to Donghyuck's apartment, and Donghyuck finally feels the exhaustion of his sleepless night catching up with him as he leans back onto the elevator wall, Jaemin’s hand still latched onto his between them.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" Jaemin asks when Donghyuck releases a massive yawn.

"No," Donghyuck pouts. “I couldn’t turn my brain off last night.”

“Thinking of me?” Jaemin says, smirking, and Donghyuck rolls his eyes as the elevator dings.

He leads Jaemin into his apartment, trying to stay quiet so as to not wake up Renjun.

“He’ll bite my head off if I wake him up an hour early,” Donghyuck says, leading Jaemin to the couch and pulling him down beside him, releasing another fierce yawn as he does. “It’ll be awful enough dealing with him making fun of me for having _you_ here, I don’t wanna deal with him tired, too.”

“You should get some sleep, too,” Jaemin says gently. “Do you wanna go to your room?”

“Inviting me into my own room already?”

“To _sleep.”_

“No,” Donghyuck pouts again. “We should” — another yawn — “talk or something.”

Jaemin laughs, still so gentle, and starts to pull Donghyuck toward him, “Go to sleep. Then I’ll make us some breakfast and we can talk, okay?”

“Fine,” Donghyuck sighs, letting himself be pulled to rest his head on Jaemin’s shoulder, Jaemin’s arm coming to rest around his shoulders, and he settles down into him with a deep, tired breath, breathing in the smell of Jaemin’s cologne, now a familiar scent.

“You’re too bony,” Donghyuck says, after a beat, rubbing his cheek on Jaemin’s shoulder.

He feels Jaemin chuckle. “Sorry.”

He tries to get comfortable for another second before finally just scooting down the couch entirely and resting his head on Jaemin’s thigh. 

“Much better,” Donghyuck says, closing his eyes again.

He hums when he feels Jaemin run his fingers through his hair, and quickly falls asleep to the gentle rhythm of Jaemin’s touch.

༻❁༺

Donghyuck wakes to his head on a pillow instead of a leg, to the sounds of someone cooking in the kitchen, and the smell brewing coffee. He can just make out Jaemin humming, too, and smiles to himself as he listens, stretching out on the couch.

He’s met with a bright smile when he finds Jaemin in the kitchen.

“Oh! Good morning,” Jaemin greets, sweet curl to his voice.

“Morning,” Donghyuck answers, sleepily, but smiles at him, watching him put a spatula down to pull plates out of the cabinet. "Have you seen Renjun yet?”

“Yep, he left for work like twenty minutes ago? I actually gave him some eggs and coffee before he went,” Jaemin informs him, and Donghyuck checks the time on the microwave, seeing with horror that it’s already past 8:30 AM.

“Oh, fuck.”

He pulls out his phone, and sure enough, there are a handful of texts from Renjun.

renjun

[1 photo attached]

WOW, about fucking time

i really didn't even need coffee this morning

tell jaemin his coffee tastes like battery acid tho

but his eggs were perfect

happy for you hyuck ❤️️

Honestly, his reaction isn't as bad as Donghyuck expects. And the picture is actually... _really_ cute. It's clearly taken from the hall, a little blurry from zooming in, but he can see one of Jaemin's hands resting in his hair, the other on Donghyuck's chest, and his head fallen back onto the back of the couch.

Donghyuck saves it immediately and only replies to Renjun with a heart text reaction on the picture.

They sit down at Donghyuck’s table with scrambled eggs and the coffee that Jaemin had made way too strong, which Jaemin insists is perfect, while Donghyuck agrees with Renjun in classifying it solidly as battery acid.

"Thanks for breakfast," Donghyuck says, just before digging in.

"You're welcome. I like to cook."

"I had noticed that, yeah," Donghyuck says, and the smile Jaemin gives him in return is so _warm_ it almost hurts to look at. He looks down at his plate, and thinks about how _he likes to cook for people he cares about_ was one of the reasons Jaemin was there with him now.

"Mark told me that you guys talked about me last night," Jaemin says, like he's reading Donghyuck's mind, again.

Donghyuck nods. "Did he tell you what I said?"

"Yeah," Jaemin confirms. "It's why I came here this morning."

"Remind me to send him a fruit basket or something as thanks."

Jaemin laughs. "He loves watermelon."

"Good to know," Donghyuck says, taking another bite of eggs.

"I didn't..." Jaemin starts, haltingly, then restarts, "I knew you didn't hate me anymore, but I really wasn't sure what you really felt. Barely even let myself hope that you'd changed your mind this much. But last night, I... I know you well enough to know that you would've had no problem being honest with Mark."

"Yeah," Donghyuck smiles wryly. "You know I didn't have any issue talking about how much I hated you back then."

Jaemin blinks, and it looks like it hurts a little, to remember.

"I'm sorry, Jaemin," Donghyuck says, the honesty uncomfortable, but Donghyuck knows it needs to be said. "I was an asshole. You didn't deserve that from me."

"I mean. I kinda did, a little bit," Jaemin says, and it makes Donghyuck laugh. “Not about the rumors and stuff, but I was definitely an asshole, too.”

“Yeah," Donghyuck swallows a mouthful of eggs. "You kinda were.”

“Hey," Jaemin complains. "I’m trying to apologize here, too."

“Yeah, and I’m encouraging you, by acknowledging it. On both ends."

Donghyuck laughs when Jaemin kicks him beneath the table.

"Maybe you're still a bit of an asshole," Jaemin mutters.

"Hey, you still fell for me," Donghyuck gloats. "Or — oh, hang on, did you fall for me _because_ I was an asshole to you? You get tired of everyone treating you like The Second Coming?"

"Fuck off," Jaemin says, fully laughing now and kicking Donghyuck again. "They do not. And it wasn't _that."_

"Then what was it, hm?" Donghyuck practically starts to preen. "My stunning good looks? I know I looked great in a cravat.”

Jaemin thinks for a moment, studying Donghyuck.

"Your passion," he says, simply, and the sheer sincerity is like whiplash. Donghyuck takes an embarrassed sip of his coffee just for something to do, unused to such honesty, praise said so earnestly. "But your stunning good looks helped, too."

"Sweet talker," Donghyuck finally says, still embarrassed. "Did you realize that before or after I danced with you and said we were strangers and you have no friends?"

Jaemin laughs, a surprised, dopey cackle, and Donghyuck revels in it.

"Before?" He says, uncertain. "It's not like there was, like, a singular moment. I don't know when it started, or when exactly I realized I was gone for you."

Donghyuck's heart beats with so much affection for this man, who had been longing for him for so _long_.

"I can't believe that argument in Seattle didn't change how you felt," he says, shaking his head. "I was fucking _awful_."

"I can't believe it _did_ change how _you_ felt. 'You're arrogant, and selfish, and I knew from the day that I met you that I'd hate you’," Jaemin recites.

"Dear _God,_ don't remind me," Donghyuck cries, scrubbing his face with his hands.

"It stayed with me, though! I was so pissed off at first but... It really was the shock I needed to realize I had actually been shitty to you, too, you know?" 

"Your email the next morning was that, for me," Donghyuck says. "But God, please forget I said any of that, though, Jaemin. _Please."_

"Okay, promise," Jaemin says, with a laugh. "But I was pretty fucking awful, too. You were right, you know, when you said I was fully expecting you to say yes to me? I couldn't imagine that someone would turn me down." He shakes his head. "I definitely deserved being called arrogant, at least. Ugh, let's both forget it."

"Deal," Donghyuck nods.

Jaemin sits up straighter, "We can start over now."

"Fuck no," Donghyuck says, immediately. "We just made out on the curb outside my apartment, Jaem, we're not _starting over_."

"Okay, okay, we can go back to making out," Jaemin laughs, reaching out to where one of Donghyuck's hands is wrapped around his coffee mug's handle, closing his hand warm around Donghyuck's. "I'm glad you changed your mind, Donghyuck," he adds, again so earnestly, and Donghyuck _aches_ with it.

"Me too," Donghyuck says, a teasing edge to his voice. "I _have_ been known to be a little stubborn, so. Don't get used to it. But... thank you, Jaemin. Not just for Renjun, but for, like, everything. And for waiting for me to come around."

"I _have_ been known to be a little stubborn, so," Jaemin echoes, smirking.

Donghyuck turns his hand around, fully fitting Jaemin's fingers between his own.

"Turns out we have a little more in common than I thought."

༻❁༺

Falling in love with Jaemin Na is far easier than hating him, it turns out.

It's a natural fall. Donghyuck finds that when all their tension is released, it gives way to a flood of blazing affection he didn't realize he could even _have._ Passion, Jaemin had called it. But he sees that passion in Jaemin, too, and finds that it shows most in the way he loves. They're similar, in that way. In _so_ many ways.

Jisung seems the happiest at the news, immediately texting Donghyuck to ask him when he'd next be visiting again, and can he come up and see Vancouver, too?

Splitting up their time between L.A. and Vancouver is the hardest, because despite how much they love each other, neither are willing to give up their homes to permanently move in with the other. But with Mark in Vancouver, and still working in L.A. so much, Donghyuck starts to feel like the bunch of them spend more time flying between the cities than they even spend in either.

Jaemin's money helps with that, though. Much as Donghyuck tries to get him to just give it all away, all the time.

("You already have a house, and probably like a bajillion in savings, what do you need the rest of your money for, huh?"

"Why are you always so set on giving away all my money?"

"Why are you so set on _keeping_ it? It's about redistributing the wealth, babe."

"Do I not redistribute enough to you?"

"I'm not your fucking _charity_.")

(He does convince him to set aside more, though, first for the youth theater program he'd volunteered at in Vancouver, then for one in his hometown in Boston, too, then for whatever and whoever he comes across that needs it.)

After a few months, Jaemin asks Donghyuck to be his plus one to another upcoming fancy premier, which Donghyuck happily accepts ( _I'd love for you to be my arm candy, Jaemin, I'm so glad you asked_ ). And once some tabloids catch on to the constant joined sightings, they have their publicists to confirm it, and let them handle the rest.

It's strange, for Donghyuck, being thrown into the public eye so much more than he's used to. Strange, and a little scary. But Jaemin doesn't let go of his hand, whether on or off the red carpet. No matter the interview or photo or conversation, he and Donghyuck stay side by side, as everyone calls them _adorable_ or _goals_ or _what a power couple,_ and Donghyuck usually replies with something along the lines of _damn right, we are._

And when they've gotten home, after, and peeled off their designer suits and their makeup, it's just Donghyuck and Jaemin. Just the two of them, all their understanding and pride and passion, knowing just how far they'd both come to get to where they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [shrieks]
> 
> thank you so much for reading and please let me know if you liked it!!!!! ♡♡♡♡♡
> 
> PS I LOVE T7S I JUST NEEDED A MOVIE TITLE OK

**Author's Note:**

> post-reveals edit !!!! tysm for reading aaaaaa i'm here on [twitter](https://twitter.com/polyjaemin) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/polyjaemin) if u wanna say hello!! <3


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